thuumitu  01' 


187 


THE 


SBible  in  tjie  Cnttuting- 


A    COURSE    OF 


LECTURES 


TO 


MERCHANTS 

BY 

II.   A.  BOAKDMAN,  D.D. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
LIPPINCOTT,    GRAM  BO   &   CO. 

1853. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1853,  by 
LIPPINCOTT,  GRAMBO  &  CO., 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for 
the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 

STEREOTYPED  BY  3.  FAGAN.  T.  K.  AND  P.  U.  COLLINS,  PRINTERS. 


TO  THE 


nf 


THESE    LECTURES 

ARE    RESPECTFULLY   INSCRIBED, 

BY   THEIR   FRIEND 
AND   FELLOW-CITIZEN, 

H.  A.  BOARDMAN. 


PREFACE. 


„  MERCHANTS  have  had  too  little  help  from 
the  Pulpit.  They  have  been  left,  very  much, 
to  frame  their  own  ethics,  and  to  grapple, 
as  they  might,  with  the  temptations  and 
trials  of  business.  There  is  no  lack  of 
sermons  and  books  on  the  vices  of  great 
cities.  Able  treatises  on  the  formation  of 
character,  enter  largely  into  the  conservative 
literature  of  the  age.  But  an  adequate 
Hand-book  on  the  moralities  of  Commerce, 
is  yet  to  be  supplied.  The  present  volume 
does  not  aspire  to  this  elevated  function : 
it  is  merely  an  humble  essay  in  that  direc 
tion.  It  has  been  prepared  as  a  companion 
to  the  "  BIBLE  IN  THE  FAMILY"  ;  and  is 

(vii) 


Viii  PREFACE. 

offered  to  the  Mercantile  classes  with  the 
hope,  that,  through  the  Divine  blessing,  its 
suggestions  may  afford  them  some  assistance 
in  adjusting  the  casuistries  of  trade,  and 
subordinating  its  aims  and  implements  to 
the  higher  ends  of  life. 

To  the  ten  Lectures  comprised  in  the 
series,  there  is  appended  a  discourse  delivered 
on  a  funeral  occasion,  before  the  Young  Men 
attached  to  the  "  Jobbing  -Houses"  in  this 
city. 

PHILADELPHIA,  May,  1853. 


CONTENTS. 


LECTURE  I. 


THE   CLAIMS   OF   THE   MERCANTILE   PROFESSION   UPON 
THE   PULPIT. 

PAOB 

FIFTY  YEARS  AGO  —  SOURCES  OP  DANGER  —  GROUNDS  OF  HOPE  — 
CRUDE  CONCEPTIONS  OF  THE  PULPIT  —  THEOLOGY  AND  MORALITY 
INSEPARABLE  —  PRACTICAL  GODLINESS  —  DUTY  OF  THE  MINISTRY 
-  A  WORD  FOR  AGRICULTURE  —  COMMERCE  AND  THE  PUBLIC 
MORALS  —  OUR  TRUE  REPRESENTATIVES  —  THE  TRIUMPH  OP 
TRADE  —  ORIGIN  OF  THESE  LECTURES  ....................  >  .......  13  —  38 

LECTURE  II. 

THE   RULE   OF   COMMERCIAL   RECTITUDE. 

EQUIVOCAL  PRACTICES  —  EXPEDIENCY  —  MACHIAVELLIANISM  —  A 
SHYLOCK  -  THE  OPIUM-TRADE  —  BRITISH  RAPACITY  —  MUTUAL 
ASSIMILATION  —  CONVENTIONAL  MORALITY  —  MISGIVINGS  SUP 
PRESSED  —  THE  DIALECT  OF  SHOPPING  —  TOO  HONEST  FOR  A 
MERCHANT  —  SPURIOUS  ETHICS  —  PERSONAL  ACCOUNTABILITY  — 
A  PERFECT  CODE  —  NEED  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  ...............  39  —  69 

LECTURE  III. 

THE   TRUE   MERCANTILE   CHARACTER. 

A  MODEL  MERCHANT  —  DR.  JOHNSON  —  ADVENTURERS  -  SORDID 
yIEWS  —  THE  MORAL  DISCIPLINE  OF  TRADE  —  COMMERCE  AND 
CHRISTIANITY  —  THE  THREE  MERCANTILE  VIRTUES  —  DOING 


(ix) 


X  CONTENTS. 

PAGK 

RIGHT  —  LOVING  MERCY  —  MEN  IN  MAIL VIGILANCE  —  FRAUD 
ULENT  ESTABLISHMENTS  —  RIGHTEOUS  SEVERITY  —  A  SAFE 
CHART 70—98 

LECTURE  IV. 

HASTING   TO   BE   RICH. 

MUTUAL  DEPENDENCE — AN  AGRARIAN  REFORMATION  —  A  CHRONIC 
MALADY ANTICIPATION  AND  FRUITION  —  FACILITY  IN  TRUST 
ING  OVER-TRADING  ENDORSING  —  DISASTROUS  FRUITS  OF 

THE    SYSTEM  —  RUNNING   IN   DEBT THE    DEBTOR'S    PENALTY  — 

RETIRING     AT     THIRTY  WHILST    WE     LIVE,     LET    US     LIVE  — 

SELFISH     PROFUSION   AVARICE,     A     BAR.     TO      HEAVEN   A 

PORTRAIT 99  —  130 

LECTURE  Y. 

SPECULATING. 

THE  SOUTH-SEA  COMPANY  —  A  COMMUNITY  CRAZED  —  A  FINANCIAL 
CRISIS  —  PRACTICAL  ATHEISM — AN  ISHMAELITE  —  ROBBERY  AND 

CHARITY  —  SANCTITY    OF    TRUSTS COLLATERAL    SPECULATIONS 

LIABILITY    OF    CO-PARTNERS  —  BANKS  —  DUTIES    OF    DIRECTORS 

—  PERVERTED     INSTITUTIONS  —  TRUE     POSITION     OF     BANKS  

USE     AND     ABUSE      OF     POWER  —  DEALING     IN     STOCKS  —  CON 
TRACTS    ON   TIME  GAMBLING   IN    STOCKS — VICE    MADE    REPUT 
ABLE  —  FICTITIOUS  MERCHANDIZE  —  DANGERS  OF  COVETOUSNESS 

A    SUMMONS    FROM   ETERNITY , 131 172 

LECTURE  VI. 

BANKRUPTCY. 

LUXURIES  —  THE    QUESTION   OF   LABOUR — SHOW   AND    SUBSTANCE 

—  THE     LIBRARY   —   UNCONSCIOUS     TEACHING  —  LIABILITY     TO 
FAILURE  —  MORAL     TESTS     OF     BANKRUPTCY  —  TESTIMONY     OF 
JUDGE    HOPKINSON  —  A    NATION   DEBAUCHED    BY    SPECULATION — 

THE    DEATH-STRUGGLE  —  DUTY    OF   INSOLVENTS  —  SWINDLERS 

VALUE    OF    A    LEGAL   DISCHARGE  —  PERMANENT    OBLIGATION    OF 
DEBTS  —  BANKRUPTCY    A     COMMON     CALAMITY  —  INTEGRITY    OF 
THE    DUTCH  —  REGALIA    OF    COMMERCE  —  THE  ONLY  SURE  EQUIP 
MENT ..  173  —  208 


CONTEXTS.  xi 

LECTURE  VII. 

PRINCIPALS   AND   CLERKS. 

PAQB 

DIFFERENT  PHASES  OP  COMMERCE  —  RESPONSIBILITY  OF  PRINCI 
PALS —  THE  DOWNWARD  PROCESS — LAFITTE  —  VALUE  OF  SUN 
SHINE — DIALECT  OF  TRADE,  IN  THE  PARLOUR — THE  MORAL  LAW, 

NO  PHANTASM — DRUMMING — USE  AND  ABUSE  OF  THE  PRINCIPLE 

A  HUMAN  SACRIFICE — PATERNAL  SUPERVISION — STEPHEN  ALLEN 
— DUTIES  OF  A  CLERK — EYE-SERVICE — TEMPERS  AND  MANNERS 
—  LEARNING  TO  STOOP — DISSIPATION  —  INTEMPERANCE  LEGAL 
IZED DEMAND  FOR  LEGISLATIVE  ACTION  —  APPEAL  TO  COUNTRY 

MERCHANTS  —  PARTNERSHIPS  —  UNDESIRABLE  ASSOCIATES — THE 
FRIENDSHIPS  OF  COMMERCE 209  —  254 

LECTURE   VIII. 

DOMESTIC   LIFE,   AND   LITERARY   CULTURE,   OP   THE   MAN 
OF   BUSINESS. 

A  COMPLAINT  —  A  REPLICATION  —  CLAIMS  OF  HOME  —  CAUTIONS  — 
AFFECTIONS  RUSTED — MISERY  AND  HAPPINESS — WOMAN'S  RIGHTS 

— INTUITION — TOO  WISE  FOR  ADVICE — A  FAITHFUL  COUNSELLOR 

THE  PATTERN  HOUSEWIFE  —  A  DOMESTIC  WOMAN  —  TASTE  AND 
NEATNESS  —  A  GRAVE  INDICTMENT  —  HOW  TO  SET  OUT  IN  LIFE 
— THE  LAW  OF  KINDNESS — LITERARY  OPPORTUNITIES  OF  MER 
CHANTS —  CRAMPING  TENDENCIES  OF  TRADE ADVANTAGES  OP 

SUPERIOR  KNOWLEDGE  —  PROSERS  —  OCTAVOS    IN   MARCH THE 

INDESTRUCTIBLE     COINAGE  —  NEAVSPAPERS WHERE    THE    LOST 

TIME  GOES  —  HINTS  ON  READING  —  A  SHIELD  AGAINST  TEMPTA 
TION —  THE  BOOK  OF  BOOKS 255  —  308 

LECTURE  IX. 

THE   CLAIMS   OP   THE   SABBATH   UPON   MERCHANTS. 
TESTIMONY  OF  A  CLERK — DR.  FARRE — THE  SABBATH  FOUNDED  IN 

NATURE  —  DESIGN  OF  THE  LAW  ALLOWED  SECULARITIES  

EVERY  MAN'S  RIGHT  TO  A  SABBATH TYRANNY  OF  AVARICE 

THE  LABOURER'S  COTTAGE — RAILWAY-TRAFFIC — THE  PLATFORM 

OF     CHRISTIANITY  —  THE     PALLADIUM     OP     LIBERTY  HOSTILE 

AGENCIES THE   LONDON    POST-OFFICES  —  INSANITY  —  SAVING 

A     DAY   —   MENTAL     CULTURE  —  BROADER    VIEWS     OF     LIFE  

DOMESTIC    RE-UNIONS  —  A    MUNIFICENT   GIFT ..    309 — 346 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

LECTURE  X. 

THE   TRUE   RICHES. — LIVING   TO   DO   GOOD. 

PAGE 

RETIRING  FROM  BUSINESS  —  FATAL  IMPROVIDENCE  —  ERROR  IN  A 
SPECIOUS  GARB  —  NO  SALVATION  BY  THE  LAW  —  THE  TRUE 
PLACE  OF  GOOD  WORKS  —  THE  INALIENABLE  HERITAGE  —  ATHE 
ISTIC  TENDENCIES — A  FIELD,  WHITE  TO  THE  HARVEST — PHILAN 
THROPY  AT  LARGE  —  CORPORATE  AND  PERSONAL  CHRISTIANITY 
— SHIP-OWNERS  AND  SAILORS — HUMANITY  ABOVE  MERCHANDIZE 

OUR   GREAT   EXEMPLAR — EVANGELICAL  MOTIVES — FREELY  YE 

HAVE    RECEIVED,  FREELY  GIVE  —  SUBTLETY  OF  AVARICE  —  THE 

OBLIGATIONS     OF    PROPERTY  A    MAN    TO   BE    REMEMBERED  — 

BENEVOLENCE  AND  SELFISHNESS,  REWARDED  —  THE  ONE  THING 
NEEDFUL 347  —  385 

LECTURE  XL 

SUGGESTIONS  TO  YOUNG  MEN  ENGAGED   IN   MERCANTILE 
BUSINESS. 

A  FUNERAL   PAGEANT  —  THE   VOICE   OF   PROVIDENCE — LIFE   AT   A 

HOTEL  —  RURAL     INFLUENCES  —  METROPOLITAN   SEDUCTIONS 

ABORTIVE  STRUGGLES  —  PERSONAL  RESPONSIBILITY  —  ENTER 
INTO  THY  CLOSET  —  THE  DAY  OF  REST  —  GOOD  POLICY  TO  KEEP 
THE  SABBATH  —  CHURCH-GOING  HABITS  —  PATHS  OF  DANGER  — 
COSTLY  CUSTOMERS — THE  GREAT  ALTERNATIVE  —  A  LAST  AP 
PEAL...  ..  387  —  420 


JLttiun  jFi 


THE   CLAIMS  OF  THE  MERCANTILE   PROFESSION    UPON 
THE    PULPIT. 

AN  intelligent  gentleman,  a  partner  in  an  opulent 
commercial  house,  once  said  to  me  — "  We  could, 
without  the  least  difficulty,  increase  our  annual  profits 
to  the  extent  of  several  thousand  dollars,  if  we  were 
willing  to  conform  to  usages  which  are  practised  by 
many  firms  around  us."  This  observation  made  the 
deeper  impression  upon  me,  because  I  had  just  been 
reading  a  small  volume,*  the  object  of  which  was, 
not  precisely  to  discuss,  but  by  means  of  a  fictitious 
narrative  to  illustrate,  the  question  —  "Is  it  possible, 
in  the  present  state  of  things,  to  do  a  mercantile 
business  successfully,  on  Christian  principles  ?"  The 
author  of  this  work,  "A  Counting -House  Man," 
without  replying  to  the  question  categorically,  incor 
porates  his  answer  with  the  facts  of  the  narrative. 
His  hero,  an  incorruptible  young  merchant,  after  a 

*  Herbert  Tracy. 

2  (13) 


14  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

brief  commercial  career  in  New  York,  fails  ;  and  the 
book  leaves  him  driving  his  plough,  a  cheerful  farmer, 
surrounded  by  a  happy  family,  at  Tarrytown. 

Why  are  such  books  written?  Why  such  obser 
vations  made  ?  If  they  were  the  fruit  of  pique,  or 
sprang  from  mere  transient  impulses,  they  would 
merit  little  attention.  But  they  have  a  different 
origin,  and  are  clothed  with  a  much  deeper  signifi 
cance.  They  betray  a  pervading  anxiety  and  dissat 
isfaction  among  the  mercantile  community.  They 
disclose  the  workings  of  the  conscience  which  under 
lies  the  commercial  world.  They  show  that  men  of 
principle  are  not  at  rest ;  that  they  distrust  the 
received  methods  of  business ;  that  there  are  current 
frauds  and  dishonesties  in  the  impetuous  rivalries  of 
trade,  which  it  takes  all  their  equanimity  to  keep 
them  from  denouncing  in  the  market-places  and  at 
the  corners  of  the  streets ;  and  that  they  them 
selves  are  often  harassed  with  questions  of  casuistry, 
which  it  requires  a  mature  skill  in  the  ethics  of  the 
New  Testament  to  bring  to  a  ready  solution.  The 
change  which  has  come  over  the  world  within  the 
last  half-century  is  felt  in  the  thoroughfares  of  com 
merce  even  more  than  in  legislative  halls  and  eccle 
siastical  synods.  The  moderation,  the  composure, 
the  gradual,  spontaneous  expansion  of  trade,  the 
rational  hours,  and  tranquil  sleep,  which  belonged  to 


FIFTY   YEARS   AGO.  15 

a  mercantile  life  fifty  years  since,  have  given  place 
to  universal  and  prolonged  excitement,  restless  acti 
vity,  a  competition  which  would  not  have  disgraced 
the  Isthmian  games,  an  unquenchable  passion  for 
wealth,  a  subjugation  of  all  the  achievements  of 
science  and  all  the  implements  of  art  to  the  purposes 
of  traffic,  and  a  sacrifice  of  personal  ease  and 
domestic  comfort  which  our  fathers  would  no  more 
have  dreamed  of  than  they  would  of  spending  life 
in  a  railroad  car.  Whether  this  revolution  could 
have  been  prevented,  or  whether  it  is  not,  on  the 
whole,  beneficial,  is  not  a  question  now  before  us. 
We  must  take  things  as  they  are ;  and  in  this  view, 
the  perplexities  and  perils  incident  to  a  mercantile 
career  are  such  as  no  intelligent  and  upright  man 
can  contemplate  without  emotion.  The  subject  is 
certainly  one  of  profound  and  growing  interest  to  all 
who  are  concerned  for  the  morals  of  the  country. 
That  it  has  a  claim  upon  the  sympathy  and  the 
friendly  co-operation  of  the  PULPIT,  which  has  as  yet 
been  recognized  only  in  a  very  inadequate  degree, 
must  be  too  apparent  to  require  any  special  demon 
stration.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  there  is  any 
work  more  imperatively  needed,  or  one  which  would 
be  more  useful,  than  an  able,  judicious,  and  popular 
treatise  ON  THE  APPLICATION  OF  CHRISTIAN  MORA 
LITY  TO  THE  AFFAIRS  OF  COMMERCE.  The  admi- 


16  THE   BIBLE    IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

rable  volume  on  this  subject  by  the  late  Dr.  Chal 
mers  can  never  become  superannuated.  But,  lumi 
nous  and  eloquent  as  it  is,  like  every  thing  which 
bears  the  impress  of  his  great  mind,  it  needs  to  be 
supplemented  by  a  corresponding  work,  devoted  to 
certain  topics  which  it  did  not  fall  in  his  way  to 
discuss,  and  adjusted  to  the  modern  usages  of  the 
trading  world.  It  may  require  another  Chalmers  to 
supply  this  desideratum,  but  whoever  shall  furnish  it 
will  confer  a  lasting  obligation,  not  only  on  the  com 
mercial  classes,  but  on  society  at  large.  For,  in 
truth,  under  our  institutions,  we  are  all  implicated  in 
the  character  of  that  profession.  Reticulated  as 
they  are,  from  their  numbers,  their  intelligence,  their 
wealth  and  enterprise,  with  every  political  and  every 
ecclesiastical  institute,  it  is  impossible  to  segregate 
them  from  the  mass  of  the  people  —  to  put  the 
merchants  on  one  side  and  "society"  on  the  other. 
In  the  United  States,  society  must  be  virtually  what 
the  merchants  are.  It  reflects  their  morality,  and 
uses  their  axioms  in  working  out  its  cases  of  con 
science.  Every  community  has  a  stake  in  keeping 
up  the  barometers  in  its  Counting-houses  to  the 
highest  possible  point.  A  downward  tendency  there 
is  certain  to  be  felt  in  every  limb  of  the  social  struc 
ture  ;  and  whenever  the  mercury,  by  a  simultaneous 
and  rapid  depression,  indicates  a  general  deterioration 


SOURCES   OF   DANGER.  17 

of  commercial  integrity,  ten  thousand  secret  sluices 
begin  to  discharge  their  deadly  poison  around  the 
roots  of  all  public  and  all  private  virtue. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  difficulty  of  main 
taining  an  inflexible  honesty  in  mercantile  pursuits. 
This  is  no  imaginary  difficulty.  The  business  of 
buying  and  selling  involves  a  constant  appeal  to  the 
principle  of  self-interest.  There  is  danger  in  this 
even  under  propitious  circumstances,  as  in  the  simple 
barter  which  is  carried  on  amongst  the  inhabitants 
of  pastoral  districts;  and  the  temptations  to  dis 
honesty  are  indefinitely  multiplied  in  large  manu 
facturing  or  trafficking  towns.  Not  to  expatiate  now 
on  a  topic  which  will  frequently  recur  as  we  proceed, 
let  it  suffice  to  refer  to  the  intense  competition  which 
prevails  in  every  branch  of  business ;  to  the  number 
of  unprincipled  persons  who  betake  themselves  to 
merchandise  for  a  livelihood ;  to  the  inexperience 
of  multitudes  who  embark  in  trade ;  to  the  common 
effect  of  interest  in  misleading  the  conscience ;  and 
to  the  facile  subserviency  with  which  most  individuals 
acquiesce  in  existing  customs,  without  stopping  to 
inquire  whether  they  are  sanctioned  by  the  morality 
of  the  Scriptures.  The  dangers  flowing  from  these 
and  other  sources  are  thickly  strewn  in  the  paths  of 
commerce.  They  are  subtle  and  imminent.  They 
are  permanent  and  cumulative.  They  are  aggravated 


18  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

by  the  risks  and  hazards  from  without,  which  are 
bound  up  in  a  business-life.  The  merchant's  motto 
is,  and  must  be,  "Nothing  venture,  nothing  win." 
He  must  trust  his  property  in  the  hands  of  others, 
who  are  often  strangers  to  him  and  living  hundreds 
or  thousands  of  miles  off.  He  must  send  his  ships  to 
explore  distant  oceans,  and  to  seek  out  untried 
markets.  He  must  expose  his  goods  to  the  perils 
of  land  and  sea,  and  to  the  capricious  changes  of 
winds  and  climates.  A  political  revolution  abroad 
may  fall  with  crushing  force  upon  his  house.  A 
popular  tumult,  or  a  hasty  act  of  legislation,  at  home, 
may  thwart  his  plans  and  blast  his  prospects.  And, 
amidst  these  varied  hazards  —  under  the  pressure  of 
reverses,  successes,  disappointments,  unlooked-for 
contingencies,  fluctuating  markets,  and  fluctuating 
hopes  —  he  is  all  the  while  dealing  with  questions 
not  merely  of  loss  and  gain,  but  of  right  and  wrong 
—  questions  frequently  of  an  intricate  nature,  and 
really  demanding  mature  study,  but  which  he  is 
obliged  to  dispose  of  on  the  spur  of  the  moment. — 
Do  we  err  then,  when  we  say  that  the  Counting- 
room  is  a  crucible  to  character  ?  Or,  are  we  at  fault 
in  contending  that  the  great  and  influential  class 
who  are  cast  into  this  fierce  alembic,  are  entitled  to 
the  sympathy  of  all  who  can  lend  them  a  helping 
hand  ?  To  relieve  them  of  their  anxieties,  to  exone- 


GROUNDS    OF   HOPE.  19 

rate  them  from  all  their  risks,  to  transform  the 
rugged  path  they  are  treading,  into  a  broad,  smooth, 
level  causeway,  is  of  course  impracticable.  The 
primeval  curse  is  not  to  be  annulled,  and  man  must 
still  live  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow.  But  the  case 
of  the  merchant  is  not,  therefore,  a  hopeless  one. 
If  we  cannot  remove  all  the  obstructions  from  his 
path,  we  may  a  part.  If  we  cannot  shield  him  from 
every  danger,  we  may  from  some.  If  we  cannot 
clothe  him  with  infallibility  in  resolving  questions  of 
duty,  we  may  place  in  his  hands  a  standard  to  which 
he  can  refer  such  questions  with  the  confidence  that 
it  will  not  deceive  him.  The  equipment  he  needs, 
the  only  equipment  which  will  at  all  meet  the  exi 
gencies  of  his  position,  is  true  religion.  The  chart 
he  requires,  the  only  chart  which  defines  with  accu 
racy  the 'reefs  and  quicksands,  the  treacherous  shoals 
and  vagrant  currents  of  the  sea  which  he  is  traver 
sing,  is,  the  word  of  God.  THE  BIBLE  IN  THE 
COUNTING-HOUSE  :  —  this  is  the  only  specific  which 
will  at  all  meet  the  moral  necessities  of  the  business- 
world,  or  which  can  make  it  expedient  for  men  to 
plunge  into  the  perilous  excitements  of  a  life  of 
traffic,  who  have  any  serious  purpose  of  ever  getting 
to  heaven.  To  bring  about  this  end,  to  inaugurate 
the  BIBLE  as  the  controlling  authority  in  the  marts 
of  commerce,  the  acknowledged  arbiter  in  matters  of 


20  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

casuistry,  and  the  test  by  which  every  usage  is  to 
stand  or  fall,  this,  surely,  is  an  object  worthy  of  the 
best  exertions  of  all  who  desire  the  prosperity  of 
religion  and  the  welfare  of  their  fellow-men.  The 
humblest  effort  in  this  cause  may  claim  to  be  received 
with  indulgence ;  nor  will  it  have  been  put  forth  in 
vain,  should  it  serve  only  to  call  the  attention  of  abler 
moralists  to  this  luxuriant  and  neglected  field  of 
practical  Christianity. 

There  may  be  those  who  will  regard  this  as  delicate 
ground.  The  pulpit  has  itself  moulded  a  public  sen 
timent  by  which  it  is  watched  with  a  jealous  eye,  lest 
it]  should]  venture  upon  themes  that  lie  beyond  its 
jurisdiction.  Curiously  enough,  the  territory  which 
it  is  sought  to  sequester  from  all  the  aggressions  of 
the  sanctuary,  is  that  which  embraces  the  actual  appli 
cation  of  the  Gospel  to  no  small  portion  of  the  daily 
avocations  of  men.  Upon  the  paths  which  men  are 
treading  for  six  days  out  of  every  seven,  upon  their 
husbandry  and  their  handicraft,  their  shops  and  their 
warehouses,  their  hoarding  and  their  disbursing, 
their  legislation  and  their  jurisprudence,  there  is 
impressed  the  brand  of  a  secularity  so  flagrant  that 
the  pulpit  cannot  venture  into  this  arena,  without 
contracting  the  taint  of  a  grievous  defilement !  A 
pastor  may,  indeed,  so  far  approach  the  boundary  of 
this  quarantined  region,  as  to  lanch  the  denuncia- 


CRUDE  CONCEPTIONS  OF  THE  PULPIT.     21 

tions  of  the  violated  law  against  all  and  singular  of 
its  busy  tribes  who  transgress  its  high  requisitions ; 
but  he  must  not  go  to  them,  to  explain  what  the  law 
demands  of  them,  and  how  they  are  to  keep  within 
the  line  of  its  prescriptions.  He  may  arraign  the 
manufacturer  or  the  trader  on  the  broad  score  of  dis 
honesty,  and  set  forth  the  penalty  a  retributive  justice 
has  attached  to  his  misdeeds;  but  the  sacredness 
of  his  office  forbids  him  to  take  the  Gospel  and  go 
with  it  into  their  mills  and  their  counting-rooms,  and 
aid  them  in  applying  its  divine  precepts  to  their 
respective  avocations.  And  so  it  comes  to  pass,  that 
when  a  Christian  minister  propounds  for  discussion 
one  of  these  tabooed  topics,  he  is  quite  likely,  on  the 
one  hand,  to  wound  the  sensibilities  of  certain  sincere 
and  excellent  people,  who  tremble  to  think  of  his 
degrading  the  Gospel  into  a  mere  scheme  of  morals ; 
and,  on  the  other,  to  disturb  the  equanimity  of  certain 
careless  and  somewhat  unscrupulous  devotees  of  mam 
mon,  who  think  he  had  better  confine  himself  to  his 
own  sphere  and  leave  them  to  theirs. 

Now,  if  the  occasion  called  for  it,  it  would  be  easy 
to  show  that  these  views  proceed  upon  a  radical  mis 
conception  of  the  functions  of  the  ministry.  Un 
doubtedly,  the  main  office  of  the  pulpit  is  to  illustrate 
and  enforce  the  great  doctrines  of  revelation,  and  the 
duties  of  repentance  towards  God  and  faith  in  the 


22  THE   BIBLE   IN  THE  COUNTING-HOUSE. 

Lord  Jesus  Christ.  There  is  a  pregnant  meaning  in 
that  declaration  of  the  apostle,  "  I  determined  not  to 
know  anything  among  you  save  Jesus  Christ  and  him 
crucified."  A  crucified  Saviour  —  redemption  by  the 
blood  of  Christ,  and  regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit 
—  as  it  is  the  grand,  central  theme  of  the  New  Testa 
ment,  so  it  must  be  the  burden  of  every  preacher  who 
would  save  the  souls  of  men.  Nor  is  this  essential 
only  in  respect  to  its  connexion  with  forgiveness  and 
spiritual  renewal.  It  is  no  less  indispensable  as  sup 
plying  the  only  solid  basis  and  effectual  guarantee  of 
a  holy  life.  Those  persons  who,  in  their  prejudice 
against  theological  disquisitions,  would  restrict  the 
pulpit  to  the  inculcation  of  charity,  forget  that  you 
cannot  build  a  house  without  a  foundation,  or  that  if 
you  do,  it  will  as  certainly  tumble  down  as  do  so 
many  of  the  fragile  structures  which  cupidity  and 
recklessness  run  up  in  our  cities.  The  ^apiras  of  the 
Bible  —  that  divine  love  which  clasps  the  whole 
human  family  in  its  embrace,  and  would  wellnigh 
emulate  the  Saviour's  benevolence  and  "lay  down 
its  life  for  the  brethren"  —  draws  its  being  from  the 
TRUTH,  lives  upon  the  truth,  rejoices  in  the  truth, 
conquers  by  the  truth,  and  will  yet  bring  the  nations 
back  to  their  allegiance  to  Christ  through  the  truth. 
To  attempt  .to  array  it  against  the  truth,  to  argue  in 
favour  of  preaching  love  as  contrasted  with  preaching 


THEOLOGY  AND   MORALITY   INSEPAUABLE.        23 

doctrine,  is  as  preposterous  as  it  would  be  to  contrast 
a  stream  with  its  fountain,  or  the  fruit  of  a  tree  with 
its  roots  and  sap.  You  may  garnish  over  a  bad 
character,  or  embellish  an  amiable  one,  by  inculcating 
charity;  but  to  expect  in  this  way  to  transform  a 
man  into  "a  new  creature,"  is  as  unphilosophical  as 
it  is  contrary  to  Scripture.  There  can  be  no  intel 
ligent  piety  where  the  understanding  does  not  lead 
the  way.  Believe,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved. 

But  if  morality  is  not  to  be  preached  without 
theology,  neither  is  theology  without  morality.  If 
Christianity  makes  its  first  appeal  to  the  understand 
ing,  it  does  not  rest  there.  If  it  reveals  a  heaven,  it 
does  not,  like  the  god  of  the  Epicureans,  hold  itself 
aloof  from  all  fellowship  with  earth.  It  is  a  religion 
to  live  by,  as  well  as  to  die  by.  As  it  challenges  the 
homage  of  all  mankind,  so  it  exerts  its  prerogative 
over  all  human  pursuits,  and  proffers  its  benign 
assistance  to  men  of  every  character  and  occupation. 
The  New  Testament  is  one  of  the  most  practical  of 
all  works.  Those  who  are  so  zealous  for  confining 
the  pulpit  to  a  stereotype  round  of  subjects,  to  what 
may  be  defined  as  religious  subjects,  would  do  well  to 
consider  the  generous  commingling  of  moral  precepts 
with  the  doctrinal  utterances  of  the  Saviour  and  his 
apostles.  It  may  be  worthy  of  their  inquiry  whether 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  would  fall  within  the  sweep 


24  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

of  that  canon  which  they  are  anxious  to  impose  on 
the  ministrations  of  the  sanctuary ;  and  whether  the 
closing  portions  of  the  Epistles,  in  the  directory  they 
present  for  the  conduct  of  persons  in  the  different 
relations  of  society,  might  not,  under  the  same  canon, 
lie  open  to  a  charge  of  legalism.  Without  illustrating 
this  point  in  detail,  take  the  following  citations  by 
way  of  example : 

Render  therefore  to  all  their  dues :  tribute  to  whom  tribute 
is  due ;  custom  to  whom  custom  ;  fear  to  whom  fear ;  honour 
to  whom  honour.  Owe  no  man  anything  but  to  love  one 
another. 

We  beseech  you  that  ye  study  to  be  quiet,  and  to  do  your 
own  business,  and  to  work  with  your  own  hands,  as  we  com 
manded  you ;  that  ye  may  walk  honestly  toward  them  that 
are  without,  and  that  ye  may  have  lack  of  nothing. 

See  that  none  render  evil  for  evil  unto  any  man  ;  but  ever 
follow  that  which  is  good,  both  among  yourselves,  and  to  all 
men. 

For  even  when  we  were  with  you,  this  we  commanded  you, 
that  if  any  would  not  work,  neither  should  he  eat.  For  we 
hear  that  there  are  some  which  walk  among  you  disorderly, 
working  not  at  all,  but  are  busy-bodies.  Now  them  that  are 
such,  we  command  and  exhort  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that 
with  quietness  they  work  and  eat  their  own  bread. 

Behold,  the  hire  of  the  laborers  who  have  reaped  down 
your  fields,  which  is  of  you  kept  back  by  fraud,  crieth :  and 
the  cries  of  them  which  have  reaped,  are  entered  into  the  ears 
of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth. 


PRACTICAL   GODLINESS.  25 

Charge  them  that  are  rich  in  this  world,  that  they  be  not 
high-minded,  nor  trust  in  uncertain  riches,  but  in  the  living 
God,  who  giveth  us  richly  all  things  to  enjoy. 

In  this  way  the  principles  of  religion  are  carried 
out  and  applied  to  the  affairs  of  every-day  life. 
Men  are  not  only  exhorted  in  general  terms  to 
honesty,  sobriety,  and  industry,  but  there  is  a  specific 
adjustment  of  the  perfect  morality  of  the  decalogue 
to  their  several  relations  and  employments.  It  is 
reasonable  to  presume  that  if  the  world  had  been  as 
commercial  then  as  it  is  now,  or  if  any  large  portion 
of  those  to  whom  the  Saviour  and  his  apostles  imme 
diately  addressed  themselves  had  been  engaged  in 
trade,  the  New  Testament  would  have  abounded  still 
more  than  it  does,  in  counsels,  cautions,  admonitions, 
and  encouragements,  appropriate  to  mercantile  mat 
ters.  As  it  is,  there  is  prominence  enough  assigned 
to  this  subject  to  warrant,  and  even  enjoin,  the 
ministers  of  religion  to  go  directly  into  the  abodes  of 
Commerce,  and  publish  to  the  great  army  of  traffickers, 
the  high  requisitions  of  Christianity.  This,  Indeed, 
is  no  less  a  work  of  philanthropy  than  a  work  of 
professional  duty ;  for  the  field  here  contemplated 
has  been  a  most  disastrous  one  to  human  virtue.  If 
its  chronicles  could  be  written,  they  would  furnish  as 
well  some  of  the  saddest,  as  some  of  the  brightest, 
chapters  in  the  annals  of  the  race.  To  an  eye  gifted 
3 


26  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

with  spiritual  discernment,  it  is  a  field  strewn  with 
memorials  of  the  dead,  surpassing  as  much  in  their 
sorrowful  significance  as  in  their  numbers,  the  bones 
which  have  whitened  the  soil  of  Leipsic  or  of  Water 
loo.  Where  War  has  slain  its  thousands,  Commerce 
has  slain  its  ten  thousands :  —  with  other  weapons, 
indeed,  and  with  a  more  terrible  and  far-reaching 
mortality.  It  presents  to  us  no  batteries  and  bayo 
nets,  no  blood  and  carnage.  It  strikes  not  at  the 
body,  although  this  sometimes  falls,  but  at  the  soul. 
It  smites  with  a  secret  leprosy,  which  spreads  its 
fatal  virus  through  the  arteries,  even  where  there  is 
every  outward  indication  of  health  and  happiness. 
The  victims  it  has  sealed  for  destruction  are,  by  turns, 
young  men  who  constitute  the  flower  of  society ; 
capitalists  who  are  conspicuous  in  the  circles  of 
fashion ;  merchants  whose  names  are  a  synonym  on 
'Change  for  intelligence  and  efficiency;  financiers 
who  are  treated  with  deference,  because  by  their  tact 
and  shrewdness  they  have  amassed  a  sudden  fortune. 
These,  and  such  as  these,  not  unfrequently  carry 
about  with  them  the  seeds  of  this  moral  plague, 
when  they  are  for  years  together  priding  themselves 
on  their  good  estate,  and  elated  with  the  flatteries 
the  world  is  so  ready  to  bestow  upon  its  successful 
votaries.  Is  it  not  a  work  of  philanthropy  to  go  and 
apprize  them  of  their  danger  ?  Are  these  appliances 


DUTY   OF   THE    MINISTRY.  27 

and  symbols  of  prosperity,  which  not  only  blind  them 
to  their  real  condition,  but  serve  as  inlets  to  the 
noxious  malaria  that  is  consuming  them,  to  deprive 
them  of  the  succour  we  would  extend  to  sick  or 
suffering  poverty  ?  And  is  the  Christian  ministry, 
whose  express  mission  it  is  to  do  good  to  all  men,  to 
withhold  its  salutary  counsels  from  the  multitudes, 
who,  though  not  yet  seized  by  these  insidious  mala 
dies,  are  breathing  an  infected  atmosphere  and  in 
jeopardy  every  hour  ?  You  cannot  take  the  affirma 
tive  of  these  questions,  without  virtually  impeaching 
the  conduct  and  teachings  of  the  inspired  penmen. 
If  we  would  tread  in  their  steps,  we  must  lend  a 
helping  hand  to  all  who  are  making  their  way  through 
the  dense,  chapperel-like  temptations  of  a  commercial 
life ;  and  the  very  best  thing  we  can  do  for  them,  the 
thing  which  they  all  need,  the  shrewdest  and  thriftiest 
even  more  than  the  dullest,  is  to  aid  them  in  install 
ing  the  BIBLE  IN  THEIR  COUNTING-HOUSES.  There 
is  no  talismanic  power  in  this  to  charm  away  tempta 
tion;  no  "Open  Sesame,"  to  disclose  subterranean 
vaults  of  bullion  which  may  be  had  for  the  asking ; 
but  there  is  a  repository  from  which  they  may  draw 
light  and  strength  and  patience  and  hope,  to  fit  them 
for  their  duties,  and  bring  them  through  all  changes 
with  a  conscience  void  of  offence  towards  God  and 
towards  man. 


28  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

It  may  give  weight  to  these  suggestions  to  reflect 
on  the  strong  predilection  for  a  mercantile  life  by 
which  our  countrymen  are  distinguished.  To  no  peo 
ple  has  so  fine  a  field  been  presented  for  the  culture 
of  rural  tastes,  nor  such  opportunities  for  enjoying 
the  substantial  comforts  of  a  country-life :  but  this  is 
not  to  their  liking.  Agriculture  is  tame  and  passion 
less.  Our  young  men  must  have  more  scope  for 
ambition,  more  society,  and,  above  all,  employments 
which  will  bring  in  quicker  and  ampler  profits.  It 
is  no  objection  with  them  that  the  hazards  of  com 
merce  are  far  greater  and  its  temptations  more  insi 
dious  ;  that  they  may  drudge  like  slaves,  and  have 
little  or  nothing  to  show  for  it ;  that  a  very  large 
proportion  of  the  merchants  in  every  city  fail,  and 
they  may  fail  too.  They  admit  all  this,  but  it  is 
more  than  counterpoised  by  the  spectacle  of  huge 
fortunes  made  in  a  day.  The  tales  of  sudden  wealth, 
which  go  out  from  our  Atlantic  cities,  are  rehearsed 
in  the  hamlets  of  the  interior  with  something  of  the 
fascination  excited  in  the  olden  time  by  the  feats  of 
crusaders  and  knights-errant.  The  brilliant  specula 
tions  we  so  often  see  chronicled  in  the  newspapers, 
have,  no  doubt,  decided  the  question  of  duty  with 
many  a  youth,  who  was  considering  to  what  occupa 
tion  he  should  devote  himself.  In  any  event,  there 
is  no  village  in  the  land  which  does  not  contribute  its 


A   WORD   FOR   AGRICULTURE.  29 

recruits  to  that  vast  array  of  clerks  and  junior  part 
ners  which  constitutes  so  important  a  part  of  the 
effective  force  of  commerce.  If  a  foreigner,  curious 
in  such  matters,  wished  to  compare  the  natives  of 
the  different  portions  of  the  Republic,  down  to  the 
remotest  savannas  and  the  most  secluded  valleys,  the 
best  thing  he  could  do,  would  be  to  attend  a  general 
meeting  of  one  of  our  "  Mercantile  Library  Associa 
tions."  From  every  quarter  the  tide  sets  with  a 
steady  flow  towards  the  depots  of  commerce.  And 
so  powerful  is  this  current,  that  we  must  make  up 
our  minds,  for  the  present,  to  see  the  greater  part  of 
our  children  drawn  into  it.  Here  and  there  a  young 
man  of  metropolitan  birth  astonishes  his  friends  by 
turning  farmer.  And  it  is  gratifying  to  see  that 
retired  merchants  are  beginning  to  wake  up  to  the 
fact  that  the  globe  is  not  all  covered  with  rows  of 
houses  and  stores,  and  that  there  are  some  sources  of 
rational  enjoyment  beyond  the  pavement.  This  feel 
ing  ought  to  be  fostered.  It  will  promote  that  atten 
tion  to  husbandry  which  is  already  elevating  agricul 
ture  amongst  us  from  the  debasement  of  a  mere 
handicraft  to  the  dignity  of  a  science.  It  will  develop 
our  resources.  It  will  embellish  the  country  with 
those  well-tilled  farms  and  tasteful  homes,  which 
make  the  rural  districts  of  England  so  delightful  to 
the  traveller.  It  will  help  to  correct  the  earthly  and 
3* 


30  THE  BIBLE   IX  THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

sordid  tendencies  in  our  national  character.  It  will 
give  position  and  stability  to  our  farming  population, 
and  invigorate  those  virtues  on  which  the  prosperity 
of  States  mainly  depends,  and  which  have  usually 
found  their  most  genial  home  among  the  cultivators 
of  the  soil. 

"  111  fares  the  land,  to  hastening  ills  a  prey, 
Where  wealth  accumulates,  and  men  decay : 
Princes  and  lords  may  flourish,  or  may  fade : 
A  breath  can  make  them,  as  a  breath  has  made : 
But  a  bold  peasantry,  their  country's  pride, 
When  once  destroyed,  can  never  be  supply'd." 

We  are  not  in  immediate  danger,  certainly,  from 
this  source ;  but  it  will  be  of  no  ultimate  advantage 
to  the  country,  if  our  children  are  trained,  whether 
by  precept  or  example,  to  disparage  agricultural 
pursuits  as  inferior  in  respectability,  in  usefulness, 
or  in  true  independence,  to  a  life  of  traffic.  And 
every  indication  of  an  opposite  kind  is  to  be  hailed  as 
a  conservative  and  patriotic  movement  in  the  right 
direction.  —  Still,  commerce  will  continue  to  assert 
its  claims,  and  they  will  be  acknowledged.  Merchants 
may  become  bankrupt ;  banks  and  insurance  com 
panies  may  fail ;  financial  crises  may  ever  and  anon 
spread  disaster  and  ruin  through  all  the  world  of 
trade ;  capitalists  may  remonstrate,  and  moralists 
admonish ;  but  the  mass  of  our  young  men  will  flock, 


COMMERCE   AND   THE   PUBLIC   MORALS.  31 

as  they  have  done,  to  the  marts  of  business.  And, 
dealing  with  this  as  a  practical  question,  we  are  not 
merely  to  inquire  into  the  wisdom  and  expediency  of 
their  course,  but  to  lend  them  such  help  as  we  may 
in  meeting  the  perils  and  difficulties  before  them. 

These  considerations  may  suffice  to  show  that  the 
mercantile  body  have  a  real  and  urgent  claim  upon 
the  pulpit  for  all  the  assistance  it  can  render  them  — 
a  claim  based  upon  their  numbers,  their  dangers,  and 
the  essential  difficulty  of  applying  the  principles  of 
Christian  morals  to  the  endless  and  abrupt  contin 
gencies  of  a  life  of  traffic.  But  it  must  further  be 
taken  into  the  account,  as  already  hinted,  that  this 
is  not  a  mere  class-question,  a  matter  affecting  simply 
the  commercial  interest.  The  whole  country  has  a 
deep  stake  in  the  character  of  its  merchants.  It  is 
they  who  regulate  in  a  great  measure  the  current 
morality  of  our  cities,  and  our  cities  in  turn  make 
their  mark  upon  the  nation  at  large.  How  potent 
this  must  be,  may  be  seen  by  any  one  who  will  reflect 
upon  the  boundless  resources  of  every  kind,  physical, 
financial,  and  intellectual,  which  are  employed  in 
mercantile  business.  Look  at  the  imposing  array  of 
banks,  insurance  companies,  loan  offices,  and  general 
agencies,  concentrated  in  every  large  city;  look  at 
the  daily  newspaper  press ;  look  at  the  fleets  of  ships 
and  steamers  at  the  wharves,  the  railroads  clasping 


32  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

distant  States  together  with  bands  of  iron,  the  tele 
graphic  wires  along  which  the  subjugated  lightning, 
"tamed  by  one  of  our  countrymen,  and  taught  to 
speak  by  another,"  flies  with  its  news,  outstripping 
time  itself :  —  all  these  are  the  implements  of  com 
merce,  and  have  their  share  in  giving  tone  and  direc 
tion  to  the  moral  sentiment  of  the  country.  To  this 
must  be  superadded  the  entire  mercantile  transactions 
of  a  nation  like  ours  —  the  exchanges,  the  credits, 
the  buying  and  selling,  the  contracts  of  every  type 
and  grade,  involving  the  daily  transfer  from  hand  to 
hand  of  millions  of  dollars  — •  all  which  goes,  however 
imperceptibly,  to  fix  the  general  standard  of  morals. 
And  this  view  derives  additional  force  from  the 
reflection,  that  the  people  are  identified  with  the 
government.  The  agency  which  fashions  their  mo 
rality,  decides  the  moral  tone  of  our  legislation. 
Comparatively  few  mercantile  men  are  seen  in  our 
legislative  assemblies :  they  are  otherwise  employed, 
and  cheerfully  relinquish  to  others  the  honour  of  mak 
ing  and  administering  the  laws.  But  their  influence 
is  there,  and  tells,  often  writh  a  plenary,  though  noise 
less,  influence,  upon  the  general  course  of  administra 
tion.  The  purity  of  our  government  could  not  long 
survive  the  extinction  or  radical  decay  of  commercial 
integrity  throughout  the  Union. 

We  may  take  still  another  step.     The  character 


OUR   TRUE   REPRESENTATIVES.  33 

of  our  merchants  is  so  far  from  being  a  mere  question 
of  caste,  that  it  involves  our  national  reputation  for 
probity,  all  over  the  globe.  The  Imports  of  the 
United  States  for  the  last  fiscal  year  amounted  to 
$207,000,000,  and  the  Exports  to  $150,000,000 ;  to 
which  must  be  added,  foreign  merchandise  re-exported 
$17,000,000,  and  $42,000,000  of  specie.  This  enor 
mous  traffic  was,  of  course,  in  the  hands  of  our 
merchants.  It  carried  them,  or  their  deputies,  to 
every  accessible  country.  It  brought  them  in  con 
tact  with  people  of  every  government  and  religion, 
from  Norway  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  from  Tur 
key,  through  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  to  Cape  Horn 
and  China.  Our  flag  floated  from  the  masts  of  their 
majestic  clippers,  in  the  harbours  of  Sydney  and  Val 
paraiso,  of  Macao  and  Monrovia,  of  Trieste  and  Ta 
hiti,  of  Bombay  and  Archangel.  In  these,  and  hun 
dreds  of  ports  besides,  they  were  the  chief,  not  to  say 
the  only,  representatives  of  our  great  confederation. 
By  them  were  we  to  stand  or  fall,  in  the  judgment 
of  these  numerous  tribes  and  governments,  as  an 
honourable  or  a  profligate  nation.  What  we  might 
be  as  to  our  political  institutions,  our  schools  and  our 
churches  ;  how  opulent  we  might  be  in  material  or  in 
intellectual  wealth ;  who  were  our  leading  statesmen 
and  jurists,  our  physicians  and  divines,  our  manufac 
turers  and  agriculturists;  these  were  points  about 


84  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

which  they  would  give  themselves  little  concern.  But 
could  they  rely  upon  the  men  they  were  trafficking 
with  ?  Did  their  goods  answer  to  the  labels  ?  Were 
their  bills  of  exchange  genuine  ?  Were  they  men  of 
substance,  trading  on  an  actual  capital,  or  men  of 
straw,  trading  on  craft  and  effrontery?  These  are 
the  questions  that  would  interest  them,  and  by  the 
solutions  to  which  they  wrere  brought,  would  the  sen 
timent  go  forth  through  their  respective  communities 
and  countries,  that  the  nation  to  which  it  is  your  boast 
and  mine  to  belong,  was  a  fraternity  of  sharpers,  or 
a  fraternity  of  high-minded  men.  It  were  idle  to 
protest  against  such  conclusions.  Sweeping  they 
may  be,  and  unwarranted  by  the  premises ;  but  to 
so  lofty  a  pitch  of  dignity  and  power  has  commerce 
attained  in  the  progress  of  modern  civilization,  that 
every  trading  nation  must  count  upon  being  judged 
by  its  merchants.  The  world  is  ruled  by  money. 
The  real  Colossus  that  presides  over  Cabinets,  and 
sways  the  fleets  and  armies  of  the  world,  is  GOLD. 
The  gravest  questions  of  state  in  European  diplo 
macy,  are  not  unfrequently  determined  by  private 
capitalists.  Many  a  Cabinet  has  been  obliged  to 
postpone  favourite  measures,  until  they  had  been 
canvassed  in  a  certain  small  parlour  at  Frankfort-on- 
the-Maine,  by  a  firm,  the  heads  of  which  belong  to 
a  proscribed  religion.  The  spectacle  of  Kings  and 


THE   TRIUMPH   OF   TRADE.  35 

their  ministers  awaiting  the  nod  of  a  Jewish  Banker, 
presents  us  with  the  finest  possible  illustration  of  that 
gradual,  but  mighty,  revolution  which  has  taken  the 
SPIRIT  OF  TRADE  out  of  the  mire,  and  enthroned  it 
over  crowns  and  sceptres.  The  sun  and  the  moon  and 
the  stars  of  the  political  firmament,  doing  obeisance  to 
a  subject  who  has  neither  political  place  nor  power ! 
Who  can  wonder,  after  this,  that  nations  should  be 
gauged  by  what  they  are  in  the  market  ?  That  the 
inquiry  should  be,  not,  "  Have  they  a  fruitful  soil, 
populous  cities,  ample  wealth  —  are  they  brave  and 
enterprising,  intelligent  and  efficient,  polite  and 
refined?"  but,  "Do  they  pay  their  debts?  Can  you 
trust  them?  When  you  sell  them  a  bill  of  goods, 
will  you  ever  see  the  money  for  it?"  These  are 
the  probes  which  are  now  used  by  the  commercial 
nations ;  implements  somewhat  coarse,  it  may  be,  and 
not  always  handled  with  the  delicate  manipulation  of 
scientific  surgery,  but  likely,  after  all,  to  reach  the 
vital  parts,  and  detect  the  actual  state  of  things  there. 
And,  whether  we  relish  it  or  not,  we  must  acknow 
ledge  that  this  ordeal  is  the  natural  appendage  of  a 
system  which  has  substituted  cotton-mills  for  cannon- 
foundries,  school-houses  for  barracks,  and  the  autoc 
racy  of  the  purse  for  the  despotism  of  the  sword. 

The  inference  to  be  drawn  from  the  fact   here 
stated,  is  a  very  obvious  one.     You  have,  I  believe, 


36  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

as  a  common  medium  of  trade,  what  are  called 
Pattern-cards,  by  which  you  buy  and  sell  large 
quantities  of  goods,  without  ever  seeing  the  goods 
themselves.  Our  importers,  with  their  army  of  mer 
cantile  and  nautical  subalterns,  are  our  Pattern- 
cards.  It  matters  not  that  they  may  not  bear  our 
brand,  and  that,  as  to  some  of  them,  we  might 
scruple  a  long  while  before  we  could  consent  to 
stamp  them.  They  will  be  accredited  abroad  in  the 
function  they  have  assumed,  and  we  shall  be  bought 
and  sold  by  them,  whether  the  samples  happen  to 
accord  with  the  goods  in  bulk  or  not.  We  have, 
therefore,  a  broad,  national  interest  in  their  character. 
It  behooves  us,  as  we  value  our  good  name  as  a 
people,  or  as  we  wish  to  propagate  the  principles  of 
republican  freedom,  to  look  well  to  the  training  and 
conduct  of  our  merchants.  If  we  can  maintain  a 
universal  and  unsullied  reputation  for  commercial 
integrity,  it  will  not  only  be  deemed  by  the  nations 
to  compensate  for  our  admitted  frailties,  but  go  far 
to  retrieve  the  prejudices  which  might  be  excited 
against  our  institutions  by  the  occasional  mal-adnrin- 
istration  of  our  public  affairs. 

Such  are  some  of  the  grounds  which  seem  to  entitle 
Commercial  topics  to  a  place  in  the  ministrations  of 
the  sanctuary.  It  would  be  the  height  of  presumption 


ORIGIN   OF   THESE   LECTURES.  37 

in  me  to  undertake  a  comprehensive  and  thorough 
exposition  of  the  morals  of  trade.  It  is  with  no 
affected  humility  I  say  it,  I  have  no  capacity  for  that 
task.  But  having  lived  now  for  many  years  in  the 
bosom  of  a  mercantile  community,  I  wish  to  acquit 
myself  of  an  obligation  to  you  which  has  long  pressed 
upon  my  conscience.  Without  essaying  any  elabo 
rate  discussion  of  principles,  there  are  various  mat 
ters  lying  on  the  surface  of  the  subject,  which  it 
may  serve  a  useful  purpose  to  consider.  I  aspire  to 
nothing  beyond  hints  and  suggestions.  On  some 
points,  it  may  devolve  upon  me  to  express  opinions 
at  variance  with  the  received  doctrines  in  the  walks 
of  commerce.  But  it  will  be  my  aim  to  test  every 
sentiment  and  usage  by  "the  law  and  the  testimony." 
And  I  shall  esteem  myself  amply  rewarded,  if  these 
Lectures  should  be  at  all  instrumental  in  fostering  a 
healthy  moral  sentiment  in  our  business  circles,  or  in 
assisting  you  to  establish  THE  BIBLE  IN  YOUR  COUNT 
ING-HOUSES. 

A  single  word  in  conclusion.  I  have  just  spoken 
of  installing  the  Bible  in  your  Counting-Houses. 
There  is  but  one  method  in  which  this  can  be  done 
effectually.  It  must  first  be  enthroned  in  your  hearts. 
Jf  you  do  not  love  its  morality,  you  will  not  practise 
it.  And  to  love  its  morality,  you  must  first  love  its 
SAVIOUR.  If  you  trust  in  Him  as  your  Redeemer, 
4 


38  THE   BIBLE   IX   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

you  will  cheerfully  serve  Him  as  your  King.  Loy 
alty  to  Christ  flows  from  faith  and  love,  as  naturally 
as  light  from  the  sun.  And  all  who  are  united  to 
Him,  not  in  the  way  of  a  mere  formal  profession,  but 
with  a  true  and  constant  affiance,  are  certain  to  have 
his  own  gracious  words  verified  to  them,  "My  yoke 
is  easy,  and  my  burden  is  light." 


THE   RULE   OF   RECTITUDE.  39 


THE   STANDARD    OF   COMMERCIAL   RECTITUDE. 


PEOPLE  who  frequent  the  Philadelphia  market, 
are  in  the  habit  of  meeting  there  an  important  per 
sonage,  who  passes  from  stall  to  stall  and  waggon  to 
waggon,  and  with  a  magisterial  air,  casts  certain  of 
the  products  of  the  dairy  into  his  scales,  which,  if 
they  be  found  wanting,  he  confiscates  to  the  public 
treasury.  What  would  be  the  result,  if  an  official, 
clothed  with  the  authority  of  the  government,  and 
supernaturally  endowed  with  the  requisite  penetra 
tion  and  firmness,  could  go  through  all  the  haunts  of 
commerce,  equipped  with  the  balances  of  the  sanc 
tuary,  the  WORD  OF  GOD,  and  subject  every  fabric 
and  every  usage  of  the  trading  world  to  this  unerring 
test  ?  Is  it  possible  to  conceive  of  any  greater  revo 
lution  in  the  wide  realm  of  merchandise,  than  that 
which  would  be  involved  in  adjusting  the  totality  of 
its  customs  and  its  transactions  to  this,  the  only 
righteous,  standard  ?  What  reformations  would  there 


40  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

be  in  weights  and  measures  and  labels,  in  service  and 
in  salaries,  in  the  stereotype  dialect  of  trafficking, 
in  the  endless  expedients  for  entrapping  the  ignorant 
and  misleading  the  unwary,  for  injuring  rival  houses, 
for  depreciating  goods  in  the  buying  of  them  and 
enhancing  them  in  the  selling,  for  creating  a  facti 
tious  credit  and  oppressing  upright  insolvents  !  What 
activity  would  there  be  in  extricating  trust-funds 
from  illegal  and  perilous  investments !  What  revi 
sions  of  invoices  !  What  remodelled  instructions  to 
captains  and  supercargoes  !  What  retractions  of 
custom  -  house  oaths !  What  an  augmentation  of 
duties !  What  commotion  at  the  stock  -  exchange  ! 
What  a  gathering  up  of  bank-capital,  to  restore  it  to 
its  legitimate  channels  ! 

This  is  not  to  say  that  truth  and  honesty  have 
been  ostracised  out  of  the  domain  of  commerce.  It 
is  not  to  admit  that  the  Roman  mythology  assigned 
Mercury  his  proper  place  in  making  him  the  god  of 
merchants,  orators,  and  thieves.  This  may  have  been 
apposite  enough  among  them ;  and  the  merchants  of 
Rome  doubtless  had  their  own  reasons  for  observing 

o 

an  annual  festival  in  honour  of  their  patron,  on 
which  occasion  they  offered  sacrifices  in  his  temple, 
and  besought  him  to  forgive  whatever  artfiil  mea 
sures,  false  oaths,  or  falsehoods,  they  had  used  or 
uttered  in  the  pursuit  of  gain.  But  the  imaginary 


EQUIVOCAL   PRACTICES.  41 

scene  just  sketched,  carries  with  it  no  impeachment 
of  the  general  integrity  of  the  commercial  classes : 
that,  happily,  is  beyond  the  reach  of  suspicion.  It 
recognizes,  however,  the  prevalence,  more  or  less 
extensive,  of  practices  which  are  as  freely  admitted 
as  they  are  deeply  deplored,  by  upright  and  intel 
ligent  merchants.  These  practices  are  not  covertly 
hinted  at,  or  talked  of  in  a  whisper.  They  are 
among  the  common-places  of  the  street  and  the 
Exchange,  too  notorious  to  be  denied,  and  too  mis 
chievous  not  to  be  felt.  That  they  are  not  met  with 
a  more  decisive  reprobation,  and  scourged  out  of  the 
arena  of  honourable  traffic,  as  the  buyers  and  sellers 
were  driven  out  of  the  temple,  is  to  be  ascribed,  in 
some  measure,  to  that  lax  morality  which  has  so 
entrenched  itself  in  the  business-world  as  to  hamper 
the  freedom  even  of  those  who  abhor  it.  And  this, 
in  turn,  is  to  be  traced  to  the  substitution  of  false 
standards  of  virtue,  for  the  law  of  God.  This  law 
has  suffered  no  abatement  in  consequence  of  the 
coming  of  Christ.  It  is  as  much  a  rule  of  duty  to  us 
as  it  was  to  the  generations  that  lived  before  the 
advent.  He  came,  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil  it. 
And,  in  his  exposition  of  it,  he  has  not  only  ratified 
every  jot  and  tittle  of  the  decalogue,  but  added  a 
"  new  commandment."  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart  and  with  all  thy  soul  and 
4* 


42  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

with  all  thy  strength  and  with  all  thy  mind ;  and  thy 
neighbour  as  thyself."  "All  things  whatsoever  ye 
would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  to 
them:  for  this  is  the  law  and  the  prophets."  This 
is  the  Scripture  code.  It  is  no  local  or  temporary 
enactment.  It  extends  to  all  times,  all  countries,  all 
classes,  all  transactions.  It  is  no  chameleon-like 
scheme,  which  takes  its  hue  from  the  interests  with 
which  it  may  happen  to  come  in  contact.  It  knows 
no  variableness,  nor  shadow  of  turning.  It  speaks 
the  same  language  in  the  palace  as  in  the  cottage, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges  as  on  the  banks  of  the 
Delaware.  It  is  a  stranger  alike  to  fear  and  favour, 
to  pity  and  resentment.  Creation  has  not  wealth 
enough  to  bribe  it.  The  most  evanescent  emotion 
that  flits  across  the  human  breast,  is  not  subtle 
enough  to  elude  it.  The  threats  of  power  and 
revenge,  are  shivered  upon  it,  like  spears  upon  a 
granite  rock.  The  appeals  of  interest  and  affection 
recoil  from  it,  like  the  waves  which  break  and  die  at 
the  base  of  Carmel. 

This  is  the  august  and  immutable  standard  of 
morality,  which  demands  the  homage  of  the  eager 
tribes  of  commerce,  of  whatever  clime,  or  tongue,  or 
occupation.  Impressed  with  the  image  and  super 
scription  of  the  only  Lord  of  the  conscience,  it  claims 
to  be  installed  in  every  counting-room,  and  whereso- 


EXPEDIENCY.  43 

ever  men  may  meet  for  traffic.  And  if  the  claim 
were  as  universally  conceded  as  it  is  urged,  that 
auspicious  transformation  would  pass  over  the  wide 
domain  of  Commerce,  which  was  described  in  the 
opening  of  this  Lecture.  But  this  code  is  too  pure 
and  too  just  to  suit  the  masses  in  any  country.  And 
there  is  a  constant  disposition  to  substitute  for  it 
some  other,  which  will  bend  to  men's  passions  and 
interests. 

There  are,  for  example,  in  every  great  trading 
community,  individuals  whose  only  rule  of  conduct  is 
Expediency.  Eight  and  wrong  are  with  them  mere 
professional  technicalities.  Questions  of  casuistry  are 
as  regularly  ciphered  out  as  the  details  of  a  balance- 
sheet.  If  a  transaction  promises  to  promote  their 
interest,  it  is  right ;  if  not,  it  is  wrong.  If  a  lie  will 
answer  a  better  purpose  than  the  truth,  it  would  be 
effeminate  not  to  use  it.  If  they  can  take  the  advan 
tage  of  a  customer,  without  being  detected,  they 
would  be  faithless  to  themselves  to  let  the  opportunity 
slip.  I  say,  "without  being  detected:"  for  it  must 
not  be  supposed  that  this  class  of  persons  have  cast 
off  all  outward  decorum.  Far  from  it.  It  is  one  of 
the  elements  which  enter  into  their  current  calcula 
tions,  how  far  they  can  go  in  this  or  that  direction 
without  being  exposed,  and  whether  any  proposed 
measure  can  be  adopted  without  a  sacrifice  of  their 


44  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

reputation.  They  are  so  graphically  delineated  by 
the  great  Coryphaeus  of  the  school  to  which  they 
belong,  that  I  am  tempted  to  quote  his  own  words. 
In  considering  the  question,  "  whether  Princes  ought 
to  be  faithful  to  their  engagements,"  Machiavelli 
observes,  "It  is  not  necessary  for  a  Prince  to  possess 
all  the  good  qualities  I  have  enumerated,  but  it  is 
indispensable  that  he  should  appear  to  have  them. 
He  should  earnestly  endeavour  to  gain  the  reputation 
of  kindness,  clemency,  piety,  justice,  and  fidelity  to 
his  engagements.  He  ought  to  possess  all  these  good 
qualities,  but  still  retain  such  power  over  himself  as 
to  display  their  opposites  whenever  it  may  be  expe 
dient.  He  should  habituate  himself  to  bend  easily 
to  the  various  circumstances  which  may  from  time  to 
time  surround  him.  In  a  word,  it  will  be  as  useful 
to  him  to  persevere  in  the  path  of  rectitude,  while  he 
feels  no  inconvenience  in  doing  so,  as  to  know  how 
to  deviate  from  it  when  circumstances  dictate  such  a 
course.  He  should  make  it  a  rule,  above  all  things, 
never  to  utter  anything  which  does  not  breathe  of 
kindness,  justice,  good  faith,  and  piety  :  this  last 
quality  it  is  most  important  for  him  to  appear  to 
possess,  as  men  in  general  judge  more  from  appear 
ances  than  from  reality."* 

*  The  Prince,  chap,  xviii. 


MACHIAVELLIANISM.  45 

The  cool  atrocity  of  this  deliverance  may  at  first 
suggest  a  doubt,  whether  the  system  it  defines  really 
has  its  disciples  as  well  among  merchants  as  poli 
ticians.  But  the  distinctive  characteristic  of  the 
system,  is,  policy  as  opposed  to  principle.  In  this 
view  there  are,  it  is  to  be  feared,  as  many  Machia 
vellian  merchants  as  politicians.  They  are  men  who, 
at  heart,  sneer  at  the  "  precision"  and  "  scrupulosity" 
of  firms  which  are  controlled  by  Christian  integrity. 
They  have  no  conception  of  a  virtue  which  brings  no 
cash  with  it.  "Honesty,  like  every  other  commodity, 
has  its  market  value.  <  Too  much  honesty  won't 
pay.'  What  reason  is  there  in  being  so  very  <  up 
right,'  when  your  neighbours  are  all  outstripping 
you?  If  it  is  lawful  to  traffic  at  all,  it  must  be 
proper  to  resort  to  such  expedients  as  will  insure  you 
success  in  your  operations.  The  main  thing  at 
present  is  to  '  make  money.'  The  sooner  that  is 
accomplished  the  better.  And  then  it  will  do  to  talk 
of  '  doing  to  others  as  you  wish  others  to  do  to  you.' 5: 
—  These  are  the  maxims, 

"uttered  or  unexpressed," 

of  the  class  of  men  we  are  speaking  of.  The  only 
authority  of  which  they  have  any  dread,  is  the 
statute-book.  If  they  can  keep  out  of  the  hands  of 
the  Grand  Jury,  and  carry  a  fair  exterior  among 


46  THE   BIBLE   IN  THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

men  of  honourable  sentiments,  they  are  satisfied. 
And  this  they  are  frequently  able  to  do,  by  means 
of  proxies.  The  machinery  of  commerce  and  finance 
is  now  so  complete,  that  the  mechanism  itself  is  all 
that  appears :  the  power  that  moves  it  is  out  of  sight. 
You  may  stand  behind  the  curtain,  nay,  you  may 
even  sit  among  the  audience,  and  work  the  ropes  and 
pullies  that  control  the  shifting  panorama,  without 
seeming  to  have  any  more  agency  in  the  exhibition 
than  the  spectators  around  you.  This  is  constantly 
done  by  men  of  integrity :  it  promotes  despatch,  con 
venience,  and  efficiency.  But  of  course,  it  is  very 
liable  to  abuse.  Unprincipled  operators  wield  it  to 
good  purpose.  Many  a  Shylock  sits  in  his  quiet 
office,  during  business-hours,  with  his  hands  upon  the 
lever  which  is  crushing  his  neighbours'  hearts.  They 
writhe  under  the  terrific  engine,  and  look  one  way 
and  another  for  help.  But  no  help  comes.  The 
fatal  hour  of  three  draws  on,  and  another  turn  of  the 
thumb-screw  tells  them  what  mercy  they  are  to 
expect.  "  Mercy  ?" 

"  You  might  as  "well  go  stand  upon  the  beach, 
And  bid  the  main  flood  bate  his  usual  height ; 
You  might  as  well  use  question  with  the  wolf, 
Why  he  hath  made  the  ewe  bleat  for  the  lamb ; 
You  might  as  well  forbid  the  mountain  pines 
To  wag  their  high  tops,  and  to  make  no  noise, 
When  they  are  fretted  with  the  gusts  of  heaven ; 


A   SHYLOCK.  47 

You  might  as  well  do  anything  most  hard, 

As  seek  to  soften  that,  (than  which  what's  harder  ?) 

His  mercenary  heart." 

He  has  but  one  passion,  one  principle,  one  end, 
one  god,  HIMSELF.  What  is  it  to  him  that  hearts 
are  crushed ;  that  deserving  men  have  in  desperation 
thrown  themselves  into  his  machine  of  torture,  and 
that  with  every  turn  of  the  wheel,  not  only  they,  but 
a  wife  and  children,  are  wrenched  and  racked. 
This  is  their  misfortune,  but  not  his  fault.  He  is  no 
more  to  blame  for  it,  than  is  the  fire  or  the  water 
which  drives  the  enginery,  for  the  death  of  the  man 
who  is  drawn  into  the  whirling  mass  and  killed. 
They  were  seeking  their  own  advantage.  He  is 
doing  no  more.  Their  reverses  cannot  be  charged 
upon  him.  The  propositions  he  now  makes,  they  are 
not  bound  to  accede  to ;  nor  can  he  be  required  to 
forego  an  opportunity  for  a  profitable  bargain.  It 
is  an  every-day  transaction,  too  simple  and  too 
common  to  raise  scruples  or  excite  feeling  in  any 
quarter. 

If  this  is  a  strong  case,  it  is  none  the  less  apposite 
for  illustrating  the  true  working  of  the  principle  of 
Expediency,  when  thoroughly  carried  out  as  a  rule 
of  conduct  in  commercial  life.  It  may  be  hoped  that 
the  number  of  individuals  who  have  wedded  them 
selves  to  it  with  all  this  recklessness  of  moral  obliga- 


48  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

tion,  is  very  small :  but  whether  few  or  many,  they 
must  be  regarded,  whenever  known,  as  the  oppro 
brium  of  the  mercantile  profession.  They  prove,  at 
least,  that  Commerce  has  its  racks  and  inquisitors,  no 
less  than  the  Church. 

If  an  illustration  of  this  topic  on  a  broader  scale 
be  needed,  there  is  one  at  hand,  which  has  too  often 
engaged  the  attention  of  the  Christian  world  not  to 
be  familiar  to  you  all.  I  refer  not  to  the  slave-trade, 
but  to  a  traffic  which  is  second  only  to  that  in  atrocity, 
to  wit :  the  British  opium-trade  in  China.  "  In  put 
ting  down  the  slave-trade,"  says  a  very  intelligent 
English  writer,  "  it  was  not  considered  too  much  to 
maintain  a  naval  force  on  the  coast  of  Africa ;  and, 
to  abolish  slavery  in  the  British  dominions,  the  sum 
of  twenty  millions  was  willingly  sacrificed ;  yet  sla 
very  was  not  productive  of  more  misery  and  death 
than  the  opium  traffic,  nor  were  Britons  more  impli 
cated  in  the  former  than  in  the  latter."* — The  facts 
are  in  a  nutshell.  The  Chinese  are  passionately  fond 
of  opium.  It  is  at  once  the  most  fascinating  and  the 
most  destructive"  poison  they  could  use,  greatly  sur 
passing  intoxicating  spirits  in  both  these  respects. 
"In  proportion,"  says  Mr.  Medhurst,  "as  the  wretched 
victim  comes  under  the  power  of  the  infatuating  drug, 

*  Medhurst's  China. 


THE   OPIUM-TRADE.  49 

so  is  his  ability  to  resist  temptation  less  strong ;  and, 
debilitated  in  body  as  well  as  in  mind,  he  is  unable 
to  earn  his  usual  pittance,  and  not  unfrequently  sinks 
under  the  cravings  of  an  appetite  which  he  is  unable 
to  gratify.  Thus  they  may  be  seen,  hanging  their 
heads  by  the  doors  of  the  opium  shops,  which  the 
hard-hearted  keepers,  having  fleeced  them  of  their 
all,  will  not  permit  them  to  enter ;  and  shut  out  from 
their  own  dwellings,  either  by  angry  relatives  or 
ruthless  creditors,  they  die  in  the  streets,  unpitied 
and  despised."  "  Every  opium-smoker  may  calculate 
upon  shortening  his  life  ten  years  from  the  time  when 
he  commences  the  practice  :  one-half  of  his  physical 
energies  are  soon  gone  ;  one-third  of  his  scanty  earn 
ings  are  soon  absorbed  ;  and,  feeling  strength  and 
income  both  diminishing,  while  the  demands  upon  his 
resources  are  increased,  he  seeks  to  obtain  by  dupli 
city  what  he  cannot  earn  by  labour ;  and  thus  his 
moral  sense  becomes  blunted  and  his  heart  hardened, 
while  he  plunges  into  the  vortex  of  ruin,  dragging 
with  him  his  dependent  relatives  and  all  within  the 
sphere  of  his  influence.  Calculating,  therefore,  the 
shortened  lives,  the  frequent  diseases,  and  the  actual 
starvation,  which  are  the  result  of  opium-smoking  in 
China,  we  may  venture  to  assert  that  this  pernicious 
drug  annually  destroys  myriads  of  individuals."  The 
Emperors  have  steadily  refused  to  legalize  the  traffic. 
5 


50  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

Animated  by  a  paternal  regard  for  their  subjects 
and  an  enlightened  estimate  of  the  true  prosperity 
of  the  realm,  they  have  by  repeated  edicts  prohibited 
its  introduction  into  the  country,  under  the  most 
rigorous  penalties.  Bribery,  however,  nullifies  these 
edicts ;  and  the  infamous  traffic  goes  on  under  the 
very  eyes  of  the  government  officials  around  Canton. 
The  extent  to  which  the  nation  is  becoming  debauched 
by  this  poison,  may  be  inferred  from  the  rapid  in 
crease  in  the  trade,  as  appears  from  the  following 
statement :  — 

1816 Chests,    3,210  ....  Value,  $3,657,000 

1825  ....      "         9,621  ....      "  7,608,206 

1836  ....      "       27,111 "  17,904,248 

1850 "       60,000 "  40,000,000 

It  has  now  reached,  it  will  be  seen,  the  enormous 
sum  of  $40,000,000  (of  which  $15,000,000  goes  into 
the  British  Exchequer),  and  this  amount  is  annually 
withdrawn  from  China  in  solid  silver.  The  opium  is 
raised  in  India,  where  the  natives  in  certain  districts 
are  compelled,  under  pains  and  penalties,  by  their 
British  rulers,  to  cultivate  the  poppy  for  the  sole 
benefit  of  the  government.  The  government  sells  it 
to  merchants,  at  a  large  profit,  who,  in  turn,  ship  it 
to  China.  The  most  urgent  remonstrances  have  been 
from  time  to  time  addressed  to  the  East  India  Com- 


BRITISH   RAPACITY.  51 

pany,  the  India  Government,  and  the  British  Parlia 
ment,  against  the  traffic,  but  without  the  least  avail. 
So  little  sympathy,  indeed,  have  the  imperial  autho 
rities  with  these  remonstrances,  that  they  actually 
engaged  in  a  war  with  the  Chinese,  some  years  since, 
because  the  latter  undertook  to  enforce  their  own 
ordinances  against  the  opium-trade ;  and  several 
millions  of  dollars  were  wrested  from  them,  at  the 
cannon's  mouth,  in  payment  for  opium  they  had 
caused  to  be  destroyed.  Here  is  Christianity  on  one 
side,  and  Paganism  on  the  other.  Paganism  is  try 
ing  to  shelter  its  subjects  from  one  of  the  worst 
curses  which  can  light  upon  a  nation,  and  Christianity 
insists  upon  blasting  and  destroying  them,  even 
though  it  cost  a  war  to  accomplish  its  purpose.  This 
is  an  edifying  spectacle  to  the  unevangelized  world — 
and  happily  a  unique  one.  With  a  single  exception, 
no  similar  example  of  rapacity  disgraces  the  history 
of  modern  commerce.  That  exception  was  the  mag 
nanimous  attempt  made  by  the  Cabinet  of  the  late 
Louis  Philippe  to  force  French  brandies  and  Popish 
missionaries  upon  the  poor  Sandwich  Islanders,  by 
means  of  powder  and  ball.  This  was  not  much  out 
of  character  for  a  government  which  was  covertly 
swayed  by  the  Jesuits.  But  surely  something  better 
might  have  been  expected  of  a  great  Protestant 
nation,  which  boasts  of  its  Christianity,  and  rebukes 


52  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

with  so  magisterial    an    air,   the   real   or    supposed 
delinquencies  of  other  nations. 

.  This  case  is  a  pertinent  one,  in  illustration  of  the 
topic  we  are  considering.  The  sole  principle  recog 
nized  in  this  contraband  traffic,  is  expediency.  The 
question  of  its  moral  rectitude,  seems  riot  to  have 
disturbed  the  complacency  either  of  the  merchants 
engaged  in  it,  the  East  India  Company,  or  the  British 
government.  It  is  "  expedient"  that  they  should  get 
thirty  or  forty  millions  of  dollars  annually  out  of  the 
Chinese,  over  and  above  the  liberal  profits  on  their 
lawful  trade ;  and  the  right  or  wrong  of  the  thing  is 
not  to  be  listened  to.  If  the  Chinese  were  a  powerful 
nation,  it  might  be  "inexpedient"  to  press  this  traffic 
upon  them.  England  very  well  knows  what  would 
follow,  if  a  French  fleet  should  enter  the  Thames  and 
demand  a  free  ingress  yearly  for  several  millions  of 
French  wines  and  laces.  But  China  is  very  weak, 
and  England  is  very  strong ;  and  as  England  wants 
the  silver,  this  settles  the  morality  of  the  question. 
The  sufferings  inflicted  upon  the  wretched  natives, 
are  nothing  to  the  purpose.  Poverty,  emaciation, 
starvation  of  families,  premature  and  horrible  death, 
wide-spread  misery  and  ruin  —  these  are  no  more  to 
the  dealers  in  the  pestiferous  poison,  than  are  the 
anguish  and  desperation  of  the  unfortunate  debtor 
to  the  relentless  creditor,  who  is  resolved  upon 


MUTUAL   ASSIMILATION.  53 

his  "pound  of  flesh."  Their  standard  is  expediency; 
and  expediency  is  as  much  a  stranger  to  sensibility 
as  to  true  integrity.  It  has  no  heart,  as  it  has  no 
conscience.  And,  whether  you  encounter  it  in  Cabi 
nets  or  in  individuals,  it  will  facilitate  your  negotia 
tions  with  it  to  remember,  that  it  has  but  one  sense, 
recognizes  but  one  standard,  aims  at  but  one  end, 
and  is  swayed  by  one  motive  —  self-interest.  —  Be 
ware  of  the  morality  which  has  policy,  not  principle, 
for  its  foundation. 

Your  great  danger,  however,  lies  in  another  direc 
tion.  The  social  element  in  our  nature  occasions 
more  or  less  of  mutual  assimilation  in  every  organized 
community,  from  the  family  to  the  commonwealth. 
No  sooner  are  we  brought  into  intimate  fellowship 
with  other  persons  than  we  begin  reciprocally  to 
mould  each  other's  characters.  A  variety  of  colla 
teral  agencies  may  contribute  to  retard  or  accelerate 
this  process :  where  self-interest  comes  to  reinforce 
it,  it  is  usually  carried  forward  with  energy.  The 
beneficial  results  of  this  principle  are  numerous  and 
decisive.  Providence  employs  it  in  many  ways  for 
the  well-being  of  individuals  and  the  general  improve 
ment  of  society.  But  it  has  also  its  adverse  results. 
And  among  these  must  be  reckoned,  the  disposition  to 
make  the  community  itself  the  arbiter  in  questions 
of  morals.  This  is  not  done  of  deliberate  and  set 
5* 


54  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

purpose.  It  is  the  spontaneous  effect  of  the  assimi 
lating  element  in  humanity  —  the  tendency  to  do 
what  others  do,  and  to  take  it  for  granted  that  what 
has  the  general  sanction  must  be  allowable.  Con 
sidering  what  man  is,  it  would  be  a  marvel,  if  codes 
of  morals  formed  in  this  way  were  not  radically 
defective :  for  the  stream  cannot  rise  higher  than  its 
fountain.  In  some  communities  they  are,  of  course, 
better  than  in  others.  There  is  scarcely  any  class 
or  association  which  is  without  its  peculiar  code,  its 
body  of  unwritten  maxims  and  usages,  which,  like  the 
common  law,  has  been  handed  down  from  one  gene 
ration  to  another,  and  is  clothed  with  all  the  authority 
of  regular  statutory  enactments.  Even  among  thieves 
there  is  a  law  of  honour.  And  Mr.  Borrow  tells  us 
of  a  gipsy  mother,  who  said  to  her  child,  "  Now  that 
you  have  said  your  prayers,  you  may  go  and  steal." 
The  Spartan  code  made  the  sin  to  consist,  not  in  the 
stealing,  but  in  the  detection.  The  gipsy-code  made 
the  sin  to  consist  in  stealing  without  prayer.  Some 
Diogenes  might  be  cynical  enough  to  insinuate,  that 
there  are  civilized  people  who  act  upon  the  maxim, 
"  Say  your  prayers,  and  then  steal."  Schools  have 
their  decalogue.  It  is  apt  to  be  one  which  is  very 
tolerant  of  idleness  and  of  equivocation.  Straight 
forward  honesty  in  dealing  with  a  master,  is  not  one 
of  its  provisions.  In  many  schools,  if  a  boy  is  skilful 


CONVENTIONAL   MORALITY.  55 

in  deceiving  his  teacher,  he  is  applauded  for  his  tact 
and  smartness.  If  they  acknowledged  the  Bible- 
code,  such  a  boy  would  lose  caste :  as  it  is,  the  youth 
may  lose  caste  who  rigidly  conforms  to  that  code. 
The  flexible  morality  of  politics  has  passed  into  a 
proverb,  which  is  used  to  sanctify  all  sorts  of  craft 
and  falsehood.  The  man  who  in  the  midst  of  an 
exciting  canvass,  should  insist  upon  a  literal  adhe 
rence  to  the  high  morality  of  the  Scriptures,  in  all 
the  details  and  with  all  the  agents  of  the  contest, 
would  be  regarded  very  much  as  a  guest  who  should 
appear  at  a  social  entertainment  in  the  costume  of 
the  age  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  "All's  fair  in  politics:" 
how  preposterous,  then,  to  bring  out  the  antiquated 
ethics  of  Moses,  to  control  the  elections  of  a  great 
nation  in  the  nineteenth  century !  The  Bar,  it  is 
alleged,  has  a  traditionary  code  not  coincident  in  all 
respects  with  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  tolerant 
of  some  customs  which  an  advocate  like  Paul  would 
hardly  have  resorted  to,  either  before  the  Sanhedrim  or 
the  Areopagus.  That  this  standard  should  be  frowned 
upon  by  the  better  portion  of  the  Profession,  is  hon 
ourable  to  them  and  conducive  to  the  ends  of  justice. 
But  there  are  many  things  nestling  under  its  shade, 
which,  if  the  BIBLE  could  be  brought  to  bear  upon 
them,  would  speed  away  like  a  fleet  of  Malay  pirates 
on  the  approach  of  a  steam-frigate. 


56  THE  BIBLE  IN  THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

In  asserting  that  Commerce  also  has  its  conven 
tional  standards  of  morality,  it  is  not  meant  that 
there  are  no  merchants  who  adhere  to  the  true 
standard.  This  would  be  a  gross  calumny.  But 
merchants  who  bear  this  character,  will  be  the  last 
to  deny  the  fact  (for  they  feel  the  pressure  of  it  in 
maintaining  their  own  principles),  that  the  "  custom 
of  trade"  goes  far  in  every  business-community  to 
supersede  the  law  of  God.  Every  man  who  embarks 
in  business,  encounters,  at  the  outset,  a  most  insidi 
ous  temptation  "to  put  his  conscience  in  commission." 
He  finds  various  practices,  more  or  less  current,  which, 
if  tested  by  "the  law  and  the  testimony,"  must  be 
condemned.  But  they  have  the  sanction  of  the  com 
mercial  body;  and  does  it  become  him,  a  tyro  in 
trade,  to  set  himself  up  as  more  righteous  than  his 
neighbours,  and  to  censure  usages  which  are  inter 
laced  with  the  whole  modern  system  of  merchandize  ? 
This  question  meets  him  under  the  most  unpropitious 
circumstances.  For,  in  the  first  place,  the  party 
concerned  will,  not  improbably,  have  become  familiar 
ized  with  these  usages  in  his  previous  training.  His 
clerkship  brought  him  into  contact  with  them ;  and 
he  will  still  recall  at  times  the  feeling  of  astonishment 
and  revulsion  excited  in  his  mind  when,  fresh  from 
his  father's  house,  with  all  the  ingenuousness  of  a 
virtuous  youth,  his  employer  first  laid  some  service 


MISGIVINGS   SUPPEESSED.  57 

upon  liim  which  he  felt  to  be  an  infraction  of  the 
Divine  law.  The  mental  struggles  of  his  novitiate 
may  have  been  painful  and  protracted ;  but  in  the 
end,  he  will  be  apt  to  regard  these  early  misgivings 
as  the  promptings  of  a  too  scrupulous  conscientious 
ness,  and  to  acquiesce  in  the  customs  which  awakened 
them  as,  on  the  whole,  indispensable  to  the  prosecu 
tion  of  business.  And,  then,  in  the  second  place,  his 
stand-point  is  one  of  the  worst  he  could  occupy  for 
looking  at  the  question  in  all  its  bearings.  The 
demon  of  self-interest  is  at  his  elbow, 

—  "  well  stor'd  with  subtle  wiles," 

and  plying  him  with  such  arguments  as  the  Serpent 
used  when, 

"  With  burnish'd  neck  of  verdant  gold,  erect 
Amidst  his  circling  spires,  that  on  the  grass 
Floated  redundant," 

he  whispered  in  the  ear  of  our  first  mother,  "Ye 
shall  not  surely  die."  It  takes  a  clear-sighted  man 
to  see  that  his  duty  lies  one  way  when  his  interest 
seems  to  point  another.  And  this  difficulty  is  in 
creased  with  merchants,  not  only  by  reason  of  the 
haze  which  the  "  custom  of  trade"  has  thrown  around 
such  questions,  but  by  the  necessity  they  are  often 
under  of  deciding  them  without  time  for  deliberation. 
It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  so  many  should 


58  THE   BIBLE   IN  THE   COTJNTING-HOUSE. 

content  themselves  with  taking  business  as  they  find 
it,  and  falling  in  with  the  established  routine  of 
traffic,  without  going  to  the  trouble  of  investigating 
the  morality  of  every  practice. 

To  illustrate  the  working  of  the  artificial  code  thus 
quietly  inaugurated  over  the  realm  of  commerce, 
would  be  to  anticipate  topics  which  may  come  up  in 
future  Lectures.  But,  by  way  of  example,  does  not 
the  established  phraseology  of  the  trading  classes  be 
tray  the  existence  and  the  potential  efficacy  of  such 
a  code  ?  That  trade  should  have  its  peculiar  dialect, 
is  perfectly  natural.  But  how  different  it  is  in  its 
principles  from  the  dialect  of  social  life  !  There  is, 
it  is  true,  a  language  prevalent  in  fashionable  circles, 
which  may  be  traced  to  a  similar  origin.  It  deals 
largely  in  compliments  and  flatteries,  aims  to  make 
you  think  well  of  yourself  by  assuring  you  of  the 
esteem  your  shining  virtues  have  awakened  in  the 
bosoms  of  others,  and  abounds  in  generous  promises 
and  proffers  of  service.  But  no  one  is  so  simple  as 
to  interpret  it  literally.  It  is  well  understood  that 
these  fine  phrases  mean  no  more  than  is  conveyed  by 
the  expressions  of  courtesy,  in  the  winding  up  of  a 
letter.  Aside,  however,  from  the  mere  complimentary 
intercourse  of  society,  we  are  accustomed  to  take 
people  at  their  word.  We  confide  in  one  another's 
veracity  and  candour  as  a  matter  of  course.  For 


THE   DIALECT   OF   SHOPPING.  59 

mutual  confidence  is  no  less  the  cement  which  holds 
society  together,  than  the  bond  of  friendship.  But 
how  is  it  when  you  enter  the  arena  of  business  ? 
Will  the  same  dictionary  answer,  or  is  it  like  going 
from  London  into  Yorkshire  ?  Does  the  endless  small- 
talk  of  "  shopping"  keep  within  the  broad  domain  of 
truth,  or  has  it  the  equivocal  reputation  of  a  border- 
tenantry,  who  do  not  scruple,  as  occasion  serves,  to 
make  forays  into  the  adjacent  territory  ?  That  there 
are  in  our  own  city  and  elsewhere  many  retail  stores 
where  you  may  rely  upon  every  word  spoken,  as  safely 
as  you  can  upon  the  conversation  in  your  own  par 
lour,  is  most  certain.  But,  allowing  for  all  just 
exceptions,  is  there  not,  the  world  over,  a  facility 
and  a  latitude  of  expression  indulged  in  the  matter 
of  buying  and  selling,  which  requires  every  one  to  be 
on  his  guard  against  deception  ?  In  some  countries 
this  is  carried  to  a  provoking  extent.  You  do  not 
expect  an  Italian  shopkeeper  to  tell  you  the  truth. 
The  received  code,  in  that  country,  sanctions  the 
most  wholesale  lying ;  and  no  man  forfeits  the  esteem 
of  his  fellows  for  using  truth  or  falsehood  indifferently, 
on  Machiavelli's  plan,  according  as  the  one  or  the 
other  will  best  serve  his  turn.  And  there  are  lands 
this  side  of  Italy  where  a  person  may  spend  a  day  in 
shopping,  and  on  sitting  down  to  review  its  incidents 
at  evening,  feel  a  considerable  degree  of  uncertainty 


60  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTIXG-HOUSE. 

as  to  whether  every  fluent  and  graceful  utterance 
heard  across  the  counter,  was  framed  with  legal  pre 
cision,  and  whether  every  purchase  is  exactly  what 
it  was  taken  to  be.  If  you  were  simply  thrown  upon 
your  own  resources,  and  left  to  judge  of  the  quality 
of  goods  for  yourself,  there  might,  as  to  many  articles, 
be  little  reason  to  complain  on  finding  that  you  had 
made  a  poor  bargain.  But  it  is  the  ready  endorse 
ment  of  the  goods  as  reaching  a  certain  standard, 
and  the  concealment  of  defects  which  must  elude  the 
sagacity  of  the  purchaser,  that  impress  so  disagree 
able  a  character  upon  this  minor  trafficking.  Let  an 
example  illustrate  this,  and,  with  it,  the  factitious  rule 
of  morals  on  which  we  are  commenting :  — 

A  gentleman  from  the  country  placed  his  son  with 
a  merchant  in  our  sister-metropolis.  A  lady  came 
one  day  to  the  store,  and  having  agreed  with  the 
young  man  for  a  silk  dress,  he  was  about  cutting  it 
off  when  he  discovered  a  flaw  in  the  silk.  "  Madam," 
said  he,  pointing  to  the  place,  "  I  deem  it  my  duty 
to  tell  you  there  is  a  fracture  in  this  silk/'  She 
declined  taking  it.  His  employer,  having  overheard 
what  passed,  immediately  wrote  to  the  young  man's 
father,  to  come  and  take  him  home,  as  "  he  would 
never  make  a  merchant."  Hastening  to  the  city,  he 
called  at  the  store,  and  begged  to  be  informed  of  his 
son's  delinquencies.  "  Why  will  he  not  make  a 


TOO  HONEST  FOR  A  MERCHANT.        61 

merchant?"  "Because  he  has  no  tact,"  was  the 
reply.  "  Only  a  day  or  two  ago,  he  told  a  lady 
voluntarily,  who  was  buying  silk  of  him,  that  the 
goods  were  damaged ;  and  I  lost  the  bargain.  Pur 
chasers  must  look  out  for  themselves.  If  they  cannot 
discover  flaws,  it  would  be  foolish  in  me  to  point 
them  out."  "And  is  that  all  his  fault  ?"  "Yes." 
"  Then,"  said  the  father,  with  a  glow  of  parental 
pride,  "I  love  my  son  better  than  ever ;  and  I  would 
not  have  him  another  day  in  your  store  for  the 
world." 

Now,  I  shall  not  stop  here  to  define  the  limitations 
of  the  principle  which  requires  a  man  to  specify  to  a 
buyer  the  defects  in  his  goods,  nor  to  enlarge  on  the 
idea  that  room  must  be  left,  in  the  prosecution  of 
commerce,  for  the  exercise  of  skill  and  sagacity. 
The  case  just  stated  is  clearly  one  where  the  clerk 
was  right  and  the  principal  wrong.  And  yet  the 
merchant  himself  had  been  trained  to  think  other 
wise.  The  "custom  of  trade"  had,  with  him,  sup 
planted  the  Scriptures.  He  could  set  his  foot  upon 
the  morality  of  the  Bible  without  compunction  ;  and, 
what  is  still  more  to  the  purpose,  without  the  slightest 
prejudice  to  his  mercantile  standing.  There  would 
be  nothing  in  this  transaction  repeated  from  day  to 
day,  as  it  is  daily  repeated  in  thousands  of  stores,  to 
damage  him  as  an  honourable  and  upright  man.  He 
6 


62  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUXTIXG-HOUSE. 

has  kept  within  the  sweep  of  that  conventional  virtue 
which  presides  in  the  thoroughfares  of  commerce,  and 
his  integrity  is  not  to  be  gainsayed.  —  Have  we  not 
here  a  proof  that  there  is  a  morality  of  trade,  which 
differs  essentially  from  the  morality  of  the  Bible  ? 

And  on  what  principle,  but  the  "custom  of  trade," 
can  we  explain  the  use  of  fictitious  labels,  and,  in 
general,  the  habit  of  selling  things  for  what  they  are 
not  ?  I  have  no  wish  to  explore  the  workshops  and 
laboratories  of  commerce.  I  lay  claim  to  no  special 
familiarity  with  the  mysteries  of  trade.  But  if  mer 
chants  themselves  are  to  be  believed,  there  are  inex 
haustible  quantities  of  European  goods  manufactured 
in  this  country.  It  is  deemed  no  ground  of  reproach 
to  a  manufacturer  to  furnish  such  goods,  nor  to  mer 
chants  to  deal  in  them.  If  a  customer  prefers  French 
broadcloths  to  American,  what  harm  is  there  in  calling 
your  cloths  French,  especially  if  you  know  them  to 
be  a  good  article  ?  If  he  wants  wines  in  the  original 
casks,  why  should  you  hint  to  him  your  suspicions 
that  the  casks  are  more  genuine  than  the  liquor? 
If  he  wants  some  patent  drug  from  Boston,  why 
should  you  not  supply  him  with  a  better  article  from 
nearer  home,  with  all  the  requisite  vouchers  and  cer 
tificates  under  the  proper  New  England  imprint  ? 

You  must  know  better  than  I  do,  whether  practices 
like  these  are  passively  acquiesced  in  by  the  mercan- 


SPURIOUS   ETHICS.  63 

tile  body.  Appearances  warrant  the  conviction 
that  they  are ;  that  while  there  are  many  houses 
which  have  no  fellowship  with  them,  the.  public  senti 
ment  of  the  profession  extenuates  and  shelters  them ; 
and  that  the  numerous  respectable  firms  which  give 
them  their  immediate  and  efficient  sanction,  do  it 
without  feeling  that  they  are  traversing  any  rule  of 
morality.  Assuming,  then,  what  may  safely  be 
assumed  in  this  place  —  what,  indeed,  it  would  be 
very  ominous  not  to  be  able  to  assume  —  that  all 
usages  of  this  description  are  in  contravention  of  the 
law  of  God,  we  are  furnished  with  another  decisive 
proof  of  the  repugnance  between  this  law  and  the 
"  custom  of  trade,"  another  illustration  of  the  lengths 
to  which  commerce  has  gone  in  substituting  its  own 
theories  of  virtue  for  the  only  legitimate  standard. 

There  may  be  those  who  will  deem  it  a  very  super 
fluous  and  a  very  puritanical  procedure  to  undertake 
to  set  up  the  BIBLE  as  the  grand  regulator  of  com 
merce.  But  how  is  commerce  to  be  exempted  from 
its  jurisdiction?  Who  is  empowered  to  say,  "We 
will  have  the  Bible  in  our  houses,  our  schools,  our 
churches,  our  charities,  but  it  shall  not  come  into  our 
stores.  We  are  quite  willing  to  live  by  it,  and  to  die 
by  it,  and  to  go  to  heaven  by  it,  but  as  to  trafficking 
by  it,  that  is  out  of  the  question."  It  may  well 
happen  that  to  subject  the  entire  business-world  to 


64  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

this  regimen,  to  replace  prescription,  usage,  expe 
diency,  and  every  spurious  rule,  with  the  precepts  of 
Scripture,  would  lead  to  inconveniences  and  losses. 
It  might  require  some  persons  to  abandon  the  busi 
ness  they  are  engaged  in,  and  abridge  the  profits  of 
others.  But  what  alternative  is  there  ?  "I  had 
rather  be  right,"  said  one  of  our  great  statesmen  a 
few  years  since,  and  the  remark  is  quoted  oftener 
than  anything  he  ever  said — "I  had  rather  be 
RIGHT,  than  be  President."  You  all  applaud  the 
sentiment.  You  honour  the  memory  of  Henry  Clay, 
because  he  uttered  it.  We  do  but  apply  it  to  your 
own  profession,  when  we  insist  upon  your  enthroning 
THE  BIBLE  IN  YOUR  COUNTING-HOUSES.  "We  press 
it  upon  you  as  the  one  controlling,  unalterable,  indis 
pensable,  rule  of  life,  that  you  do  RIGHT.  It  may 
demand  sacrifices ;  it  may  cost  you  many  a  trial  of 
feeling;  it  may  separate  you  from  friends;  it  may 
expose  you  to  reproach.  These  are  serious  evils. 
They  are  to  be  shunned,  if  they  can  be,  with  a  good 
conscience.  But  if  you  have  to  choose  between  them 
and  a  good  conscience,  you  cannot  be  at  a  loss 
where  truth  and  duty  lie.  It  is  not  necessary  that 
you  should  escape  trouble,  but  it  is  necessary  that 
you  should  do  right. 

This  may  seem  to  imply  a  doubt  as  to  the  profit 
ableness  of  high-toned  integrity.     It  is  put  in  this 


PERSONAL   ACCOUNTABILITY.  65 

torm  only  to  give  the  statement  the  greater  strength. 
A  host  of  merchants  could  be  cited  to  show  from  their 
own  books  that  honesty  is,  in  the  long  run,  the  best 
policy,  and  that  godliness  hath  the  promise  of  the 
life  that  now  is,  as  well  as  of  that  which  is  to  come. 
But  waiving  this,  the  question  of  right  must  always 
take  precedence  of  the  question  of  interest :  and  the 
Bible  is,  therefore,  just  as  much  entitled  to  be  heard 
in  the  Exchange  as  in  the  Sanctuary,  in  the  manu 
factory  and  the  warehouse  as  in  the  nursery  and  the 
library. 

It  may  well  impress  this  conviction  upon  your 
minds,  and  abate  any  disposition  you  may  have  felt 
to  make  expediency  or  the  custom  of  trade  your  rule 
of  conduct,  to  reflect  that  neither  these  nor  any  other 
earth-born  codes  will  be  recognised  in  the  final  judg 
ment.  It  may  serve  the  purpose  of  men  to  mix 
themselves  up  in  the  crowd  here,  and  to  merge  their 
individuality  in  professions,  and  corporations.  But 
there  will  be  no  professions  and  corporations  at  the 
bar  of  Christ.  These  alliances  will  be  dissolved. 
The  parties  that  constitute  them  will  be  arraigned 
singly  and  individually.  The  criminality  of  those 
numerous  transactions  which  even  "men  of  character" 
so  frequently  sanction  in  their  corporate  or  collective 
capacity,  while  as  private  persons  they  would  scorn 
them,  will  then  be  traced  to  its  sources,  and  charged 
6* 


66  THE   BIBLE    IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

upon  their  active  originators  and  their  passive  abet 
tors,  according  to  a  just  rule.  No  one  before  that 
tribunal  will  be  so  foolish  as  to  imagine  that  he  can 
transfer  his  own  responsibility  to  his  neighbours,  or 
vindicate  his  delinquencies  by  pleading  general  con 
nivance  and  example.  To  his  own  Master,  he  must 
stand  or  fall.  And  the  LAW  OF  GOD  is  the  inflexible 
rule  by  which  he  must  be  judged. 

The  sooner,  therefore,  we  get  rid  of  all  hallucina 
tion  on  this  subject,  and  admit  into  our  hearts  the 
full,  strong,  abiding  sense  of  our  personal  accounta 
bility,  the  better  for  our  business  and  the  better  for 
our  souls.  Because  the  world  is  full  of  people  who 
are  selling  their  souls  for  a  mess  of  pottage,  that  is 
no  reason  why  we  should  do  it.  They  are  no  law  to 
us,  as  they  certainly  will  be  able  to  extend  us  no 
relief,  if  we  find  ourselves  ruined  by  following  their 
example.  The  chart  prescribed  to  us  is  not,  it  is 
true,  a  scheme  of  salvation,  in  the  sense  of  making 
our  own  obedience  the  meritorious  ground  of  our 
acceptance  with  God.  That  way  to  heaven  was  for 
ever  barred  up  when  our  first  parents  were  driven 
out  of  Paradise.  If  saved  at  all,  we  must  be  saved 
through  the  atonement  of  Christ.  But  an  upright 
and  useful  life,  a  life  conformed  in  its  aims  and 
motives  and  habitual  endeavours,  to  the  Divine  law, 
is  no  less  indispensable,  as  a  part  of  our  personal 


A   PERFECT   CODE.  67 

meetness  for  heaven,  than  is  genuine  faith  as  the 
bond  of  our  union  with  the  Redeemer.  God  has 
joined  faith  and  works  together,  and  we  put  them 
asunder  at  our  peril.  Nor  will  any  other  scheme  of 
morals  besides  this,  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  com 
mercial  body.  Whatever  name  they  may  bear,  all 
other  codes  are  radically  deficient  in  precision,  in 
comprehension,  and  in  authority.  They  have  no 
solid  basis,  no  uniformity,  no  adequate  sanctions. 
They  tolerate  in  one  place  what  they  prohibit  in 
another.  What  they  concede  to-day  they  withdraw 
to-morrow.  By  sending  every  man  to  his  own 
interest,  or  to  the  custom  of  his  neighbours,  for  his 
rule  of  conduct,  they  sap  the  foundations  of  integrity, 
and  make  the  morals  of  commerce  as  variable  and 
capricious  as  the  waves  which  float  its  ships. 

In  majestic  contrast  with  these  fluctuating  and 
arbitrary  codes,  the  morality  of  the  Bible  asserts  its 
sovereignty,  and  challenges  the  homage  of  the  world. 
Emanating  from  the  throne  of  the  Deity,  and  radiant 
with  supernal  splendours,  it  demands  the  obedience 
of  every  human  being,  in  every  act  and  moment  of 
his  life.  It  waits  upon  us  with  the  first  dawn  of 
moral  agency,  and  cleaves  to  the  disembodied  spirit 
as  it  wings  its  way  up  to  the  throne  of  God  and 
onward  into  the  unknown  depths  of  eternity.  En 
dowed  with  the  ubiquity  of  its  Author,  if  we  ascend 


68  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE  COUNTING-HOUSE. 

up  into  heaven,  it  is  there ;  if  we  make  our  bed  in- 
hell,  behold  it  is  there ;  if  we  take  the  wings  of  the 
morning,  and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea, 
even  there  will  it  lay  its  immutable  behests  upon  us, 
and  sit  in  judgment  on  our  most  unguarded  actions 
and  our  most  subtle  thoughts.  There  is  no  spot  in 
the  universe,  where  we  can  elude  its  jurisdiction :  no 
finite  arm,  which  can  shelter  from  its  anathema  the 
man  who  fails  in  the  least  jot  or  tittle  of  its  require 
ments.  But  there  is  a  spot  where  we  can  learn  to 
love  this  sublime  and  holy  law,  even  while  it  condemns 
us ;  and  a  Power  which  can  absolve  us  from  its  curse 
and  enfranchise  us  with  its  rewards,  without  abetting 
disloyalty  or  encouraging  ingratitude.  That  spot  is 
Calvary.  That  Power  is  the  God  and  Father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  "  so  loved  the  world  that  he 
gave  his  only-begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth 
in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life." 
The  blood  of  the  cross  is  the  only  safe-guard  against 
the  penalty  of  the  law.  And  it  is  the  mysterious 
property  of  that  blood,  when  sprinkled  upon  the 
heart,  not  only  to  avert  from  it  the  descending  bolt 
of  Divine  justice,  but  to  inspire  it  with  the  same 
affectionate  veneration  for  the  holiness,  which  it  has 
for  the  mercy,  of  God.  This  truth,  which  we  are 
all  so  slow  to  understand,  it  is  the  gracious  office  of 
the  SPIRIT  to  impress  upon  the  conscience.  Under 


NEED   OF   THE   HOLY   SPIRIT.  69 

His  administration,  we  gratefully  receive  the  Gospel 
as  our  ground  of  hope,  and  the  law  as  our  rule  of 
duty.  Let  it  be  your  care  to  invoke,  with  earnestness 
and  importunity,  that  help  which  He  alone  can  afford 
you.  Transformed  by  Him  into  the  Divine  image, 
you  will  view  even  your  secular  employments  in  their 
higher  relations,  and  endeavour  to  conduct  them  on 
Christian  principles.  It  will  be  no  irksome  task  to 
set  up  the  Bible  in  your  Counting-Houses,  when  the 
God  of  the  Bible  is  once  admitted  to  his  rightful 
place  in  your  hearts. 


70  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 


THE   TRUE   MERCANTILE   CHARACTER. 

As  I  was  about  writing  the  closing  paragraphs  of 
my  last  Lecture,  I  received  a  letter  from  a  gentleman 
of  the  highest  social  and  commercial  standing  in  one 
of  our  principal  cities,  which  contained  the  following 
paragraph :  — 

"  It  gives  me  pain  to  inform  you  that  our  friend,  Mr. , 

is  in  a  very  critical  state  of  health:  he  is  confined  to  his 
house,  and  forbidden  even  to  see  his  intimate  friends.  No 
man  could  be  taken  from  this  community,  whose  loss  would 
be  more  severely  felt :  for  everywhere  his  influence  has  been 
exerted  for  good.  Such  a  liberal  outlay  of  money,  combined 
with  unwearied  personal  exertions,  in  the  cause  of  benevo 
lence,  we  have  never  seen  here  —  the  whole  directed  by  intel 
ligence  and  sound  judgment.  In  the  mercantile  community, 
he  stands  without  a  peer,  while  he  is  the  delight  of  the  social 
circle,  in  which,  however,  he  mingles  with  great  moderation. 
Added  to  all,  he  is  a  conscientious  Christian.  He  observed 
to  a  friend  of  ours,  a  few  days  since,  that  he  regarded  his 
present  illness  as  a  blessing  that  had  been  sent  to  snatch  him 


A   MODEL   MERCHANT.  71 

from  the  whirlwind  of  a  life  he  was  leading,  and  afford  him 
the  opportunity  of  paying  some  attention  to  his  more  import 
ant  interests." 

Sad  as  this  intelligence  was,  I  felt  that  there  was 
a  providence  in  its  reaching  me  at  the  moment  when 
I  was  casting  about  for  some  method  of  bringing 
before  you  a  suitable  exemplar  of  the  TRUE  MERCAN 
TILE  CHARACTER.  The  gentleman  referred  to  in  this 
extract,  is  at  the  head  of  a  house  which  is  known 
in  every  leading  port  of  the  globe.  No  wind  can 
blow  which  will  not  waft  one  of  their  ships  homeward. 
Their  counting-rooms  have  more  the  aspect  of  a  great 
banking  establishment  than  a  mercantile  house.  The 
administrative  capacity  requisite  to  conduct  their 
affairs,  would  be  more  than  sufficient  to  endow  the 
entire  cabinet  of  many  a  European  principality. 
But  the  business  is  in  the  hands  of  one  who  is  quite 
equal  to  the  position.  Possessing  a  ready  and  saga 
cious  mind,  stored  with  ample  professional  knowledge 
and  embellished  with  general  reading,  energetic,  pru 
dent,  systematic,  conscious  of  his  own  resources,  and 
thoroughly  conversant  with  every  department  of  their 
operations,  his  whole  character  reposes  on  a  basis  of 
inflexible  integrity,  is  pervaded  with  a  spirit  of 
enlightened  piety,  and  garnished  with  a  serene  and 
cheerful  temper,  which  sparkles  like  a  fountain  in  the 
sunshine.  Enter  his  private  office  when  you  may,  be 


72  THE   BIBLE  IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

it  "  Steamer-day,"  "Packet-day,"  or  any  other  "  day," 
be  it  when  he  is  surrounded  by  the  captains  and  super 
cargoes  of  their  fleet,  or  absorbed  with  negotiations 
involving  a  half-million  of  money,  you  are  certain  to 
be  met  with  a  manly  smile.  Despatch,  you  will  find, 
and  promptitude:  but  no  flurry,  no  imperiousness, 
no  gruffness.  Kefmement  and  courtesy  preside  there 
as  visibly  as  in  his  private  mansion.  And  if  your 
errand  be  one  of  philanthropy,  you  are  quite  as  sure 
of  a  cordial  greeting  as  though  you  called  to  charter 
a  ship  for  Canton  or  to  buy  a  thousand  bales  of  cot 
ton.  Indeed,  it  is  one  of  the  singular  excellencies  of 
this  accomplished  merchant,  that  while  conducting  an 
extended  commerce  with  every  part  of  the  globe,  he 
is  known  as  one  of  the  most  efficient  managers  in 
various  charitable  institutions,  and  devotes  a  large 
amount  of  time  to  personal  exertions  for  the  relief  of 
the  suffering  poor. 

Having  hung  up  this  portrait,  crudely  sketched  as 
it  is,  where  we  can  all  see  it,  we  are  prepared  to  say 
that  the  true  mercantile  character  comprises,  as  one 
of  its  essential  elements,  a  comprehensive  and  liberal 
conception  of  the  dignity  and  utility  of  commercial 
pursuits. 

Boswell  relates  that  he  one  day  asked  Dr.  Johnson, 
"  What  is  the  reason  that  we  are  angry  at  a  trader's 
having  opulence?"  "Why,  sir,"  he  replied,  "the 


DR.  JOHNSON.  73 

reason  is  (though  I  don't  undertake  to  prove  that 
there  is  a  reason),  we  see  no  qualities  in  trade  that 
should  entitle  a  man  to  superiority.  We  are  not 
angry  at  a  soldier's  getting  riches,  because  we  see 
that  he  possesses  qualities  which  wTe  have  not.  If  a 
man  returns  from  a  battle,  having  lost  one  hand,  and 
with  the  other  full  of  gold,  we  feel  that  he  deserves 
the  gold  ;  but  we  cannot  think  that  a  fellow  by  sitting 
all  day  at  a  desk,  is  entitled  to  get  above  us." 
Boswell.  "  But,  sir,  may  we  not  suppose  a  merchant 
to  be  a  man  of  an  enlarged  mind,  such  as  Addison 
in  the  Spectator  describes  Sir  Andrew  Freeport  to 
have  been?"  Johnson.  "Why,  sir,  we  may  sup 
pose  any  fictitious  character.  We  may  suppose  a 
philosophical  day-labourer,  who  is  happy  in  reflecting 
that  by  his  labour  he  contributes  to  the  fertility  of  the 
earth,  and  to  the  support  of  his  fellow-creatures ;  but 
we  find  no  such  philosophical  day-labourer.  A  mer 
chant  may,  perhaps,  be  a  man  of  an  enlarged  mind ; 
but  there  is  nothing  in  trade  connected  with  an 
enlarged  mind." 

This  is  a  very  characteristic  growl ;  but  even  John 
son  would  hardly  have  emitted  it,  had  he  lived  a  half 
century  later.  Commerce  has  fought  its  way  (if  this 
phrase  may  be  used  of  a  pursuit  which  is  proverbially 
the  patron  of  peace)  to  a  position  in  which  it  can 
afford  to  treat  cynical  sneers,  from  whatever  quarter, 
7 


74  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

with  contempt.  And  yet,  with  all  the  opulence  and 
power  it  has  attained,  there  is  still  but  too  much 
occasion  given  for  strictures  like  those  we  have  quoted. 
Crowded  to  repletion  as  the  mercantile  profession  is 
in  this  and  some  other  countries,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  there  should  be  found  in  its  ranks  a  large  com 
mixture  of  the  precious  and  the  vile.  No  inconsider 
able  portion  of  the  traffickers  of  our  land  have  gone 
into  business,  without  the  slightest  preparation.  The 
high  reputation  of  the  merchants  of  Great  Britain 
throughout  the  globe,  is  to  be  ascribed  in  a  great 
measure  to  the  thorough  training  involved  in  their 
novitiate.  The  long  and  rigorous  apprenticeship  to 
which  they  are  subjected  corrects  their  extravagances, 
disciplines  their  powers,  and  forms  them  to  habits  of 
caution  and  to  principles  of  integrity,  before  they 
have  a  counting-room  of  their  own.  And  then,  the 
whole  spirit  of  their  institutions,  not  to  say  the  very 
genius  of  the  nation,  coalescing  with  this  system  of 
tutelage,  goes  to  foster  the  various  practical  virtues 
for  which  the  commercial  body  in  England  is  so 
honourably  distinguished. 

This  wise  and  salutary  process  is  as  much  in  con 
flict  with  the  genius  of  our  people,  as  it  is  in  harmony 
with  that  of  our  respected  relatives  across  the  water. 
While  the  substance  of  it  is  retained  by  our  leading 
commercial  houses,  it  is  quite  too  tedious  to  suit  the 


ADVENTURERS.  75 

temper  of  the  trading  classes  generally.  They  can 
not  brook  its  restraints.  Preparation  for  business,  is 
not  what  our  young  men  want :  they  must  have  busi 
ness  itself.  Why  waste  their  time  in  learning  in  the 
abstract,  what  they  could  so  much  sooner  and  better 
learn  from  actual  practice  ?  While  they  are  getting 
ready  to  do  something,  they  might  be  making  a  for 
tune.  Plodding  and  moiling  may  do  "in  an  old 
country:"  the  only  motto  which  befits  an  American, 
is,  "G-o  ahead!" 

Such  is  the  feeling  which  hurries  multitudes  into 
the  various  branches  of  trade,  or  starts  them  on  bold 
and  hazardous  speculations.  To  say  that  their  theory 
of  mercantile  life  is  a  very  erroneous  one,  would  be 
doing  them  too  much  honour.  You  might  as  well 
talk  of  the  geological  theory  of  the  China-man  who 
is  flourishing  his  pick  in  a  California  ravine.  The 
only  "  theory"  they  have,  is,  that  they  want  a  for 
tune,  and  that  "merchandizing"  is  the  way  to  get  it. 
What  they  mean  by  "merchandizing"  is  not  particu 
larly  clear  to  their  own  minds ;  but  they  have  a  vague 
notion  that  the  whole  scheme  of  trade  is  a  sort  of 
scramble,  where  every  man  is  to  clutch  all  he  can, 
regardless  of  the  rights  and  interests  of  other  people. 
Taking  their  departure  from  this  point,  one  of  two 
results  is  apt  to  follow:  they  are  either  "lucky" 
enough  (Luck  and  Mammon  are  the  only  gods  in 


76  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

their  mythology)  to  capture  some  rich  prizes,  or, 
missing  their  reckoning,  they  run  upon  the  rocks  and 
founder — if,  indeed,  that  can  be  called  "  foundering," 
which  admits  of  a  speedy  refitting,  and  a  fresh  start, 
as  often  as  the  disaster  occurs. 

It  would  be  a  mistake,  however,  to  attribute  this 
view  of  mercantile  pursuits  to  those  only  who  embark 
in  trade  without  any  experience.  It  unhappily  enters 
into  the  creed  of  too  many  persons  who  have  served 
at  least  a  partial  apprenticeship,  and  acquired  con 
siderable  tact  in  the  management  of  business.  Pro 
ceeding  on  the  maxim  that  "each  man  must  take 
care  of  himself,"  they  see  nothing,  and  care  for 
nothing,  beyond  their  own  immediate  interest.  They 
want  customers :  why  should  they  not  decoy  into 
their  warehouse,  men  who  have  for  years  been  deal 
ing  with  their  neighbours?  Their  neighbours  can 
do  the  same,  if  they  choose,  with  other  people's  cus 
tomers.  They  have  goods  to  sell :  why  should  they 
expose  their  defects  to  buyers,  when  every  buyer  is 
presumed  to  be  able  to  judge  for  himself?  They 
have  goods  to  purchase :  why  should  they  not  avail 
themselves  of  the  known  or  suspected  embarrassments 
of  the  seller,  to  force  him  to  part  with  his  commodi 
ties  below  the  market  price  ?  They  have  a  bill  of 
merchandize  to  pay :  why  should  they  use  good  money 
when  they  can,  with  a  little  legerdemain,  induce  then* 


SORDID   VIEWS.  77 

correspondent  to  take  "  country  paper"  or  depreci 
ated  bank-notes  ?  They  require  a  book-keeper,  and 
one  offers  whose  qualifications  are  of  the  highest 
grade ;  but  his  family  are  in  distress,  and  they  know 
he  will  sooner  take  a  meagre  compensation  than  miss 
the  place:  why  should  they  tender  him  the  usual 
salary  ?  —  These  hints  will  suffice  to  identify  the  class 
of  dealers  I  have  in  view,  and  who  are  cited  here  for 
a  single  object.  I  would  have  you  note  the  low, 
sordid,  pitiful  conception  which  these  men  must  have 
of  a  mercantile  life.  They  may,  if  you  will,  be  rich 
men,  successful  men,  men  who  have  a  potential  influ 
ence  in  bank-parlours,  and  who  are  treated  with  great 
outward  respect  on  'Change.  But  if  your  profession 
were  made  up  of  such  men,  it  would  concentrate 
within  itself  more  meanness  than  could  now  be  sifted 
out  of  all  the  other  trades  and  callings  put  together. 
Commerce,  as  it  lies  before  the  mind  of  a  true 
merchant  —  like  him  described  in  the  opening  of  this 
Lecture,  and  like  others  we  could  all  name,  if  re 
quired —  has  no  affinity  with  these  base  principles. 
They  see  in  it  a  system  of  interchanges  founded  on 
the  organic  structure  of  the  globe,  and  mercifully 
designed  by  the  Author  of  our  being,  to  subserve  the 
most  salutary  ends  in  our  physical  and  moral  train 
ing.  Not,  indeed,  that  they  discard  the  ideas  of 
profit  and  accumulation,  or  disparage  prudence  and 
7* 


78  THE   BIBLE    IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

energy  in  the  buying  and  selling  of  goods,  and  in 
every  other  department  of  business ;  or  deem  it  ami 
able  and  exemplary  to  let  themselves  be  imposed  upon 
by  unprincipled  rivals  or  adventurers.  There  are 
very  few  such  transcendentalists  in  the  walks  of 
traffic.  But  they  are  men  who  believe  in  the  homely 
maxim,  "LiVE,  AND  LET  LIVE."  Instead  of  grasp 
ing  at  every  thing  within  their  reach,  on  the  merce 
nary  principle  that  "  to  the  victor  belong  the  spoils 
of  the  vanquished,"  they  would  not  that  there  should 
be  any  "vanquished,"  but  that  all  should  receive  a 
fair  remuneration  for  their  skill,  their  risks,  their 
enterprise,  or  whatever  they  may  have  brought  into 
the  teeming  arena  of  traffic.  They  welcome  the  pro 
pitious  venture  which  fills  their  own  lap  with  ingots  ; 
but  they  also  rejoice  in  the  prosperity  which  reaches 
their  neighbours,  and  spreads  over  the  whole  com 
munity  the  ensigns  of  thrift  and  happiness.  Aiming, 
as  they  are,  to  make  a  fortune,  they  are  far  from  dwarf 
ing  a  commercial  life  into  this  as  its  only  or  its  highest 
function.  They  see  it  also  in  its  nobler  aspects,  as 
looking  to  the  well-being  of  individuals,  the  improve 
ment  of  States,  and  the  diffusion  of  Christianity.  It 
supplies,  in  their  view,  one  of  the  best  of  all  schools 
for  the  culture  of  integrity,  candour,  moderation, 
decision,  generosity,  and  other  elevated  qualities. 
These  qualities  are  not  the  growth  of  a  day.  Luther 


THE   MORAL   DISCIPLINE    OF   TRADE.  79 

specified  temptation  as  one  of  the  three  things  requi 
site  to  make  a  minister.  It  is  equally  indispensable 
to  make  a  merchant ;  and  a  business-life  involves  a 
perpetual  trial  of  one's  principles.  It  furnishes  inces 
sant  openings  for  the  suggestions  of  avarice,  false 
hood,  extortion,  and  jealousy.  It  daily  invites  to 
indolence  or  to  rashness.  And  no  man  can,  year 
after  year,  repel  the  Protean-like  enticements  to 
•wrong-doing,  which  lurk  along  the  avenues  of  trade 
and  make  their  way  into  every  counting-room  and 
insinuate  themselves  into  every  business-transaction, 
without  becoming  both  a  wiser  and  a  better  man. 
His  virtue  will  grow  apace.  His  probity  will  strike 
its  roots  deeper  and  deeper  into  the  foundations  of 
his  character.  And  he  will  be  garnering  up  strength 
to  resist  future  assaults  of  a  similar  kind. 

The  very  errors  and  reverses  of  commerce  conduce 
to  the  same  end.  One  of  the  proper  fruits  of  indis 
cretion  and  disaster,  is,  to  make  men  prudent.  A 
little  experience  of  the  fluctuations  of  mercantile 
affairs,  may  teach  an  impetuous  temper  the  value  of 
that  wholesome  maxim,  "  Hasten  slowly."  A  careful 
observation  of  the  causes  which  have  produced  the 
downfall  of  others,  may  prompt  to  a  cautious  and 
moderate  policy.  The  disappointments  to  which  even 
the  most  sagacious  are  liable,  are  adapted  to  impress 
the  mind  with  a  becoming  sense  of  God's  universal 


80  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

Providence  and  our  absolute  dependence  upon  Him 
for  success  in  every  undertaking.  In  fine,  even  the 
ordinary  events  of  a  commercial  life  are  fraught  with 
moral  lessons,  no  less  instructive  than  those  our 
Saviour  has  taught  us  to  gather  from  the  fowls  of  the 
air  and  the  lilies  of  the  field. 

Looking  at  the  subject  in  another  of  its  aspects, 
whatever  promotes  the  physical  or  the  moral  well- 
being  of  individuals,  is  a  substantial  benefit  to 
society :  so  that  the  salutary  discipline  just  described, 
to  which  so  many  characters  are  constantly  subjected, 
is  enlarging  the  moral  wealth  of  a  country,  as  really 
as  the  processes  of  trade  are  contributing  to  its  ma 
terial  resources.  If  commerce  multiplies  our  wants, 
it  augments  both  our  capacity  and  our  opportunity 
for  useful  labour.  It  encourages  industry,  stimulates 
skill,  rewards  enterprise,  diffuses  knowledge,  and 
developes  those  capabilities  of  exertion  which  slumber 
in  the  bosom  of  every  community. 

There  is  a  still  higher  view  than  this  —  that  which 
affiliates  a  commercial  life  with  the  welfare  of  Chris 
tianity.  This  connection  may  be  seen  in  that  process 
of  self-discipline,  already  adverted  to,  which  is  going 
forward  in  the  shop  of  many  an  humble  tradesman. 
In  the  tedious  toil  with  which  he  enlarges  his  scanty 
stock  of  goods,  in  the  vigilance  with  which  he  watches 
for  opportunities  of  traffic,  in  the  firmness  with  which 


COMMERCE   AXD   CHRISTIANITY.  81 

he  repels  the  suggestions  of  fraud  and  covetousness, 
in  the  patience  with  which  he  submits  to  his  priva 
tions,  in  the  alternate  hopes  and  fears,  the  mingled 
cheerfulness  and  anxiety,  which  fill  up  his  days  and 
too  often  his  watchful  nights,  there  is  a  gradual 
maturing  of  his  character  in  integrity,  self-command, 
contentment,  and  trust  in  Providence.  And  wrhen 
we  consider  upon  what  masses  of  population,  distri 
buted  among  the  various  grades  of  mercantile  life, 
this  training  is  brought  to  bear,  it  can  excite  no  sur 
prise  that  we  find  numerous  examples  of  a  perennial 
and  robust  Christianity  along  the  thoroughfares  of 
trade. 

On  a  broader  scale,  commerce  proves  itself  the 
friend  and  ally  of  true  religion,  by  supplying  means 
and  opening  channels  for  its  diffusion.  To  this  result, 
indeed,  it  unconsciously  contributes,  even  while  con 
templating  only  pecuniary  gains.  This  was  once 
beautifully  expressed  by  a  late  illustrious  advocate 
and  statesman,  who  was  justly  esteemed  as  one  of 
the  chief  ornaments  of  our  city,  and  whose  death  has 
been  felt  as  a  national  bereavement  :* — "  The  ship 
which,  in  quest  of  profitable  traffic,  seeks  out  the 
abode  of  barbarian  ignorance,  covered  with  the  thick 
darkness  of  inhuman  superstition,  is  like  t7ie  first  ray 

*  The  Hon.  John  Sergeant. 


82  THE  BIBLE   IN  THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

of  the  morning  upon  creation.  Feeble  it  may  be, 
and  insufficient  of  itself,  but  it  is  the  earnest  of 
approaching  day,  growing  and  growing,  until  at 
length  the  message  of  piety  is  borne  by  the  winds  in 
the  same  ship  upon  the  unfurrowed  bosom  of  the 
ocean,  and  the  Missionary  of  the  Gospel  comes  to 
plant  the  Tree  of  Life  in  the  wilderness,  humbly 
trusting  to  his  Almighty  Master  to  give  the  increase." 
In  this  way,  it  may  be  added,  Commerce  has  conveyed 
the  Book  of  Life  to  many  a  pagan  land,  the  harbinger 
of  peace  and  freedom  to  the  benighted  nations,  the 
emblem  of  approaching  amity  among  all  the  tribes 
of  earth. 

These  are  topics  which  can  only  be  glanced  at  here. 
They  open  to  the  eye  a  very  inviting  field,  but  we 
cannot  enter  it.  The  end  I  have  in  view  is  simply 
to  illustrate  by  these  hints,  the  elevated  and  generous 
conception  of  a  commercial  life,  entertained  by  a  true 
merchant,  as  distinguished  from  the  narrow  and 
debasing  notions  of  the  mere  adventurer.  It  is  satis 
factory  to  know  that  in  all  our  great  centres  of  busi 
ness,  there  are  influential  men  who  have  formed  this 
liberal  estimate  of  their  profession,  and  who  habitually 
contemplate  it  in  its  powerful  and  beneficent  bearings 
upon  the  best  interests  of  individuals,  and  the  im 
provement  of  nations  in  intelligence,  virtue,  and 
rational  happiness.  It  will  commonly  be  found  that 


THE   THREE   MERCANTILE   VIRTUES.  83 

merchants  of  this  stamp,  are  no  strangers  to  the 
BIBLE.  It  is  from  the  study  of  the  sacred  records, 
that  they  have  come  to  regard  business,  not  as  a 
mere  matter  of  personal  subsistence  or  of  political 
economy,  but  as  an  essential  part  of  that  great  scheme 
of  Providence  by  which  men  are  to  be  trained  to  the 
practice  of  virtue,  and  the  remotest  nations  drawn  to 
each  other  in  the  bonds  of  a  common  brotherhood. 

With  these  views  of  a  commercial  life,  there  are 
associated  certain  virtues  which  may  be  regarded  as 
indispensable  to  the  true  mercantile  character.  On 
this  point,  an  eminent  authority*  has  said:  "Ana 
lyze  the  true  qualities  of  a  man  of  business,  and  you 
will  find  them  reduce  themselves  to  fairness,  vigilance, 
and  steadiness :  fairness,  exemplified  in  declaring  his 
terms  at  once,  and  in  never  deviating  from  an  engage 
ment  ;  vigilance,  in  superintending  his  assistants,  his 
clerks,  and  his  workmen ;  and  steadiness,  in  following 
up  his  proper  line,  year  after  year,  without  turning 
to  the  right  or  left  in  pursuit  of  mere  speculative 
advantages.  These,  plain  as  they  are,  form  the  true 
virtues  of  mercantile  life :  the  man  who  is  known  to 
possess  them  will  be  at  no  loss  for  connections,  and 
may  safely  leave  to  others  the  task  of  seeking  a 
reputation  for  hospitality  by  their  mode  of  living,  of 

*  The  Encyc.  Brit. 


84  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

activity  by  the  frequency  of  their  solicitations,  or  of 
liberality  by  an  unusual  prolongation  of  credit." 

No  one  could  be  disposed  to  abridge  this  catalogue 
of  the  radical  mercantile  virtues  :  many  would  enlarge 
it.  But  all  parties  would  unite  in  assigning  the  first 
place  to  what  this  writer  terms  "fairness/'  meaning, 
no  doubt,  INTEGRITY.  It  is  proper  here  to  be  more 
specific.  There  are  higher  and  lower  grades  of  this 
as  of  the  other  virtues.  The  integrity  which  belongs 
to  the  best  type  of  mercantile  character,  is  evangelical 
integrity ;  that  which  is  based  upon  an  intelligent  and 
hearty  reception  of  Scripture  truth,  nurtured  by  Di 
vine  influences,  and  swayed  by  motives  drawn  from 
revealed  religion.  I  utter  not  one  word  in  disparage 
ment  of  the  honesty  which  is  so  often  found  apart 
from  personal  godliness.  It  is  well  for  the  world 
that  men  are  honest  from  interest,  from  habit,  from 
general  custom,  from  a  sense  of  future  accountability, 
from  what  is  called  "  goodness  of  heart,"  and  from 
various  other  motives.  But  it  will  not  be  denied  that 
the  integrity  which  springs  from  religious  principle, 
is  in  all  respects  a  nobler  and  a  more  reliable  virtue, 
and  that  this  constitutes,  in  fact,  the  only  adequate 
panoply  for  a  man  who  means  to  expose  himself  to 
the  perils  and  hazards  of  a  commercial  life. 

The  integrity  of  a  merchant,  to  be  of  any  avail, 
must  have  some  well-known,  immutable,  and  readily 


DOING   RIGHT.  85 

accessible  standard.  Christian  integrity  has  such  a 
standard,  clear,  precise,  authoritative,  and  always  at 
hand  —  the  WORD  OF  GOD.  His  integrity  must  be, 
not  a  matter  of  calculation,  of  constraint,  of  appear 
ances,  but  a  matter  of  principle  and  of  disposition. 
He  must  be  resolved  to  do  right ;  and  he  must  find 
his  happiness  in  doing  right.  He  must  do  right  as 
well  in  the  smallest  matters  as  in  the  greatest.  He 
must  do  right  where  there  is  a  moral  certainty  that 
by  some  slight  deviation  from  the  line  of  rectitude, 
he  could  add  to  his  immediate  gains  without  the  least 
hazard  of  detection.  He  must  do  right  when  pressed 
on  every  side  by  an  eager  competition,  and  when  a 
refusal  to  conform  to  the  equivocal  expedients  which 
his  neighbours  employ  to  increase  their  business, 
promises  to  involve  him  in  losses.  He  must  do  right 
in  those  junctures  when  he  is  tempted  by  an  inviting 
combination  of  circumstances,  to  embark  in  schemes 
which  neither  the  amount  of  his  capital  nor  his  exist 
ing  financial  obligations  would  warrant  him  to  meddle 
with.  He  must  do  right  in  those  fearful  crises  when 
the  omens  of  ruin  are  gathering  thick  and  fast  around 
him,  and  his  breast  is  haunted  day  and  night  with  the 
horrible  spectre  of  bankruptcy.  This  is  the  integrity 
you  need.  And  if  there  be  any  virtue  which  is  equal 
to  these  requisitions,  it  can  be  no  earth-born  endow 
ment.  It  would  be  going  quite  too  far  to  say  that 
8 


86  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

even  men  of  undoubted  Christian  integrity  never  fail 
in  these  scenes  of  peril.  They  have  often  fallen; 
and  truth  and  righteousness  have  fallen  with  them. 
But  Christian  integrity  is,  under  God,  the  best  pos 
sible  protection  you  can  have  against  these  insidious 
and  serried  dangers.  No  other  equipment  could  do 
so  much  to  shield  you.  If  you  are  without  it,  you 
cannot  escape  the  moral  contamination  so  incident  to 
a  business-life.  You  certainly  will  not  attain  to  the 
dignity  and  purity  of  the  true  mercantile  character. 

We  must  go  further  still.  There  is  a  style  of 
excellence  in  the  world  of  commerce,  beyond  that  we 
have  described.  The  merchant  referred  to  in  the 
opening  of  this  Lecture,  is  a  man  of  scrupulous 
integrity ;  but  if  this  were  all,  he  would  not  fill  the 
place  he  does  now  in  the  affectionate  regards  of  that 
community.  I  have  known  men  —  you  must  have 
known  men  —  whose  rectitude  was  without  a  stain  ; 
men  rigidly  punctual  and  exact  in  all  their  transac 
tions  ;  whom  you  would  not  have  hesitated  to  entrust 
with  all  your  property  or  to  name  as  your  executors : 
and  yet  men  in  whom  there  was  a  something  wanting 
to  awaken  in  the  breast  emotions  of  reverence  and 
affection.  The  truth  is,  a  man  may  do  right,  and 
yet  come  far  short  of  his  duty.  We  are  not  satisfied, 
and  the  Bible  is  not  satisfied,  with  a  man's  "  doing 
justly ,"  He  may  "  do  justly,"  according  to  the  letter 


LOVING   MERCY.  87 

of  the  law,  and  yet  do  some  very  unamiable  things. 
He  may  abstain  from  the  slightest  invasion  of  the 
rights  of  others,  and  "render  to  all  their  dues,"  and 
still  leave  undone  many  offices  of  kindness  which  it 
was  in  his  power,  and  he  should  have  felt  it  to  be  his 
pleasure,  to  do.  The  true  merchant  will  not  only 
"  do  justly,"  but  "love  mercy."  The  realm  he  lives 
in  is  one  where  Mercy  has  the  amplest  opportunities 
to  exert  her  mild  prerogative.  Such  are  its  uncer 
tainties,  its  fluctuations,  its  hidden  dangers,  its  fre 
quent  disasters,  that  its  busy  tenantry  are  all  liable 
to  need,  and  should  therefore  all  be  ready  to  perform, 
offices  of  sympathy  and  kindness.  It  will  not  answer 
for  one  of  them  to  go  to  his  fellows  indiscriminately, 
and  take  them  by  the  throat  and  say,  "  Pay  me  what 
thou  owest !"  There  may  be  those  among  them  who 
richly  deserve  this  treatment.  But  for  the  mass,  he 
must  remember  who  has  said,  "  He  shall  have  judg 
ment  without  mercy,  that  hath  shewed  no  mercy."  He 
must  consider  —  and  if  he  is  what  a  merchant  should 
be,  he  will  consider — that  he  may  perpetrate  grievous 
wrongs  in  the  name  of  law  and  justice.  He  will 
never  strike  until  he  has  heard.  He  will  reflect,  that 
the  being  who  stands  before  him,  deprecating  his 
severity,  is  not  simply  his  debtor,  but  his  fellow- 
creature,  his  brother ;  that  his  inability  to  meet  his 
engagements  may  be  the  effect  of  unavoidable  mis- 


88  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

fortunes ;  and  that  even  if  they  are  attributable  to 
rashness  or  improvidence,  it  does  not  become  him  to 
visit  these  infirmities  with  a  too  rigorous  retribution 
—  "  considering  himself,  lest  he  also  be  tempted." — 
Nor  is  it  in  this  way  only  that  his  kindness  of  heart 
will  show  itself.  A  merely  just  man  may  isolate 
himself  from  the  community  around  him.  He  is 
among  them,  but  he  is  not  of  them.  He  buys  and 
sells  with  them,  pays  them  their  dues  and  requires 
them  to  pay  his ;  and  this  is  all.  He  is  not  an 
excrescence.  He  is  not  an  incumbrance.  His  capital 
is  an  advantage  to  the  common  traffic.  His  example 
is  useful  in  so  far  forth  as  he  is  an  upright  man. 
But  he  is  bound  to  the  community  by  no  ties  of  sym 
pathy.  He  takes  no  interest  in  anything  outside  of 
his  own  warehouse.  He  is  not  the  man,  if  he  hears 
of  a  worthy  neighbour  who  has  been  overtaken  by 
some  sudden  emergency,  to  go  to  him  and  say,  "  Here 
are  funds :  take  them  until  you  have  weathered  this 
cape  !"  He  is  not  the  man  to  turn  business  he  does 
not  want  or  cannot  do,  into  the  hands  of  a  young 
firm  across  the  way,  who,  commercially  speaking, 
might  be  glad  to  get  the  crumbs  from  his  table. 
If  men  want  counsel,  his  counting-room  is  not  the 
one  where  they  will  instinctively  go  to  seek  it.  Every 
one  confides  in  his  fairness,  and  respects  him  for  his 
skill  and  capacity ;  but  the  general  feeling  about  him 


MEN   IN   MAIL.  89 

will  be,  that  lie  is  a  cold  man ;  that  without  being  a 
miser,  he  is '  still  a  selfish  man,  who  has  no  generous 
impulses ;  and  that  to  ask  a  favour  of  him  is  too  dis 
agreeable  a  service  to  be  undertaken,  except  under  a 
stringent  necessity. —  This  is  not  a  type  of  character 
peculiar  to  mercantile  life.  Men  of  this  description 
are  to  be  found  in  the  learned  professions  and  among 
civilians.  Great  men  they  may  be,  erudite  scholars, 
eloquent,  judicious,  influential,  and  quite  accessible 
where  they  are  consulted  officially ;  but  in  their  ordi 
nary  bearing,  wrapped  in  a  cloak  of  dignified  selfish 
ness,  which  makes  you  feel  that  their  proper  place 
would  be  in  the  Armory  of  the  Tower  of  London,  or 
with  some  other  collection  of  mailed  heroes  of  the 
Middle  Ages. 

The  true  merchant  is  cast  in  a  very  different  mould. 
His  bosom  is  the  home  no  less  of  genuine  sensibility 
than  of  inflexible  justice.  He  understands  that  his 
relations  to  his  fellow-men  are  not  all  summed  up  in 
buying  and  selling  with  them.  He  remembers  that 
life  has  other  and  higher  ends  than  the  mere  exchanges 
of  commerce  and  the  profits  which  accrue  from  them. 
He  esteems  it  as  his  privilege  to  do  good  according 
as  God  may  have  given  him  the  ability.  He  will  be 
found  among  the  supporters  of  those  noble  religious 
institutions  which  constitute  the  brightest  ornaments 


90  THE   BIBLE    IN    THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

of  our  ago,  and  arc  doing  more  for  the  amelioration 
of  the  race  than  all  other  agencies  combined.  But 
his  benevolence  will  not  begin  and  end  in  the  sanc 
tuary.  It  will  be  his  pleasure  to  help  forward  every 
prudent  scheme,  which  promises  to  contribute  to  the 
general  welfare.  He  will  be  ready  to  assist  with  his 
advice,  and  as  far  as  circumstances  may  warrant  it, 
with  his  means,  firms  of  tried  character  which  need 
succour.  He  will  have  his  eye  upon  young  men  of 
real  merit,  and  at  the  proper  time  put  them  in  the 
way  of  doing  something  for  themselves.  If  a  vacancy 
is  about  to  occur  in  a  bank  or  an  insurance  office,  he 
will  have  some  unfortunate,  but  deserving  and  com 
petent,  man  to  nominate  for  the  place.  If  he  sees 
the  affairs  of  some  remote  firm  going  to  ruin  through 
the  dissipation  or  dishonesty  of  their  agent  in  his  own 
city,  he  will  in  a  delicate  way  cause  a  hint  of  it  to 
be  given  them.  If  a  widowed  mother  invokes  his  aid 
in  behalf  of  her  sons,  he  will  do  what  he  can  to  obtain 
situations  for  them.  In  a  word,  a  merchant  of  this 
sort  will  make  it  the  guiding  principle  Of  his  life,  to 
endeavour  to  do  unto  others  as  he  would  have  others 
do  to  him ;  he  will  cultivate  no  less  in  his  business, 
than  in  his  social  intercourse  and  his  religious  duties, 
the  spirit  of  Christian  candour  and  Christian,  kind 
ness  ;  and  the  whole  texture  of  his  life  will  go  to 
illustrate  the  benefits  which  would  accrue  to  Com- 


VIGILANCE.  91 

merce,  if  the  BIBLE  could  once  be  fairly  established 
in  all  her  COUNTING-HOUSES. 

Let  it  not  be  inferred  from  these  remarks  that  the 
merchant  who  draws  his  ethics  from  the  Scriptures, 
and  carries  the  benevolent  spirit  of  Christianity  into 
his  business,  must  expose  himself  to  imposition,  or, 
in  any  event,  will  be  likely  to  forego  frequent  advan 
tages  of  which  he  might  fairly  avail  himself  in  prose 
cuting  his  plans.  There  is  nothing  in  the  Bible  to 
discountenance  that  "vigilance"  which  the  writer  we 
have  quoted,  specifies  as  one  of  the  essential  mercan 
tile  virtues.  Its  whole  tenor,  on  the  contrary,  goes 
to  make  men  earnest,  watchful,  and  sagacious,  in  their 
secular  callings.  It  were,  indeed,  an  ill  omen  for  Chris 
tianity,  if  a  faithful  adherence  to  its  precepts  should 
reduce  men  to  a  state  of  amiable  imbecility,  and  make 
them,  according  to  the  Italian  proverb,  "  so  good  that 
they  would  be  good  for  nothing."  Religious  principle 
is  of  somewhat  sterner  stuff  than  this.  A  Christian 
merchant  is  even  under  special  obligation  not  to  be 
remiss  in  any  appropriate  means  for  promoting  his 
business.  He  will  shrink  from  no  honourable  com 
petition.  He  will  put  forth  all  his  powers  in  deciding 
how  he  may  best  apply  his  resources.  He  will  be  as 
resolute  as  his  neighbours  in  getting  up  new  fabrics, 
in  cheapening  the  cost  of  production,  in  seeking  out 
fresh  markets,  in  calculating  the  contingencies  which 


92  THE   BIBLE    IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

may  affect  prices  at  future  periods  or  in  distant  ports, 
and  turning  these  to  some  useful  account,  in  guarding 
against  accidents  and  losses,  in  meeting  the  conve 
nience  of  his  customers,  and,  generally,  in  devising 
measures  which,  without  involving  unwarrantable  risks, 
may  enlarge  his  business  and  his  profits.  He  will 
resist  to  the  utmost,  the  schemes  and  tricks  of  unprin 
cipled  traders,  who  may  essay  to  make  capital  out  of 
his  good  nature.  He  will  show  himself  as  resolute 
in  bringing  knaves  and  sharpers  to  justice,  as  he  is 
lenient  to  those  whose  only  crime  consists  in  their 
having  been  unfortunate.  Nor  will  his  moral  courage 
exhaust  itself  in  meting  out  a  righteous  retribution  to 
piratical  adventurers  from  the  interior.  If  there  are 
firms  in  his  own  line  of  business,  however  wealthy 
and  prosperous,  which  set  at  defiance  the  common 
maxims  of  integrity  and  the  established  courtesies  of 
commerce,  which  circulate  slanders  against  their  neigh 
bours,  inveigle  away  their  customers,  and  do  other 
things  which  no  honourable  merchant  would  do,  he 
will,  on  all  fitting  occasions,  manifest  his  abhorrence 
of  their  conduct.  He  will  unite  with  his  brethren  in 
suspending  all  professional  intercourse  with  such  firms, 
and  treating  them  as  marauders,  who  have  no  legiti 
mate  place  within  the  domain  of  commerce.  It  is 
the  opprobrium  of  the  mercantile  class  that  there 
should  be  men  of  this  description  among  them.  If 


FRAUDULENT   ESTABLISHMENTS.  93 

new  men  rise  up  along  the  street,  who  simply  excel 
them  in  enterprise  and  skill,  who  beat  them  in  energy 
and  tact,  and  through  these  means  outstrip  them  in 
business,  they  cannot  complain.  But  there  can  be 
few  things  more  trying  to  a  mercantile  body  than  to 
have  an  establishment  planted  among  them  which 
thrives  at  their  expense,  on  principles  that  ought 
never  to  be  found  outside  of  a  Penitentiary.  The 
craft  with  which  these  concerns  are  managed,  is  a 
great  aggravation  of  the  evil.  Like  other  free 
booters,  they  sail  under  false  colours.  They  bear 
all  the  outward  emblems  of  respectability  and  integ 
rity.  Here  is  the  warehouse,  stocked  from  basement 
to  attic  with  seasonable  goods.  The  principals  and 
clerks  are  as  bland  and  polite  as  possible.  There  are 
porters  and  draymen  and  packers  and  piles  of  boxes 
and  the  usual  paraphernalia  of  a  driving  business. 
But  the  honeyed  words  which  are  spoken  there  in  the 
ears  of  the  country  merchant,  who  has  just  been 
enticed  from  the  firm  he  has  always  traded  with,  are 
words  of  falsehood.  The  sly  insinuations  he  hears 
about  "  other  houses"  are  calumnies.  The  alleged 
superior  facilities  for  making  purchases,  enjoyed  by 
his  new  friends,  are  a  sheer  fabrication.  The  ex 
tremely  liberal  terms  on  which  they  are  willing  to 
sell  to  "a  gentleman  of  his  standing,"  are  a  decoy 
for  the  time  being,  or,  if  anything  more,  will  be  found 


94  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

no  more  liberal  than  he  could  obtain  elsewhere.  And 
the  voluble  commendations  lavished  upon  the  goods, 
are  reliable  just  so  far  as  his  own  experience  and  tact 
will  enable  him  to  verify  them,  and  no  further.  For 
the  whole  establishment  is  a  deception  and  a  lie. 
There  is  no  moral  principle  there,  except  that  shal 
low,  thriftless,  counterfeit  integrity,  which  is  based 
on  policy.  From  the  cellar  to  the  dome,  truth  and 
falsehood  are  used  indifferently.  The  very  invoices 
and  labels  are  taught  to  lie.  Where  it  will  serve  a 
purpose,  a  neighbouring  firm  is  largely  complimented; 
and  where  it  will  serve  a  purpose,  the  same  firm  is 
prodigally  abused.  Character  has  no  intrinsic  value 
there.  Virtue  is  nothing.  Honour  is  nothing.  The 
esteem  of  the  community  is  nothing.  Religion,  as  a 
system  of  practical  godliness,  is  less  than  nothing. 
MONEY  is  everything.  The  one  paramount  aim  of 
the  concern,  its  only  code,  its  only  care,  is,  to  make 
money.  And  if  in  prosecuting  this  object,  it  seem 
expedient  to  repudiate  the  recognized  comities  of 
trade,  and  to  make  open  or  secret  war  upon  other 
houses,  why  the  end  will  justify  the  means  —  for 
money  must  be  made  at  all  hazards  ! 

Now  it  is  not  only  compatible  with  religious  duty, 
but  every  merchant  of  true  Christian  integrity  is 
bound  to  unite  with  his  neighbours  in  treating  estab 
lishments  of  this  sort  as  beyond  the  pale  of  honour- 


RIGHTEOUS   SEVERITY.  95 

able  traffic.  This  is  precisely  a  case  for  the  applica 
tion  of  the  apostolic  injunction,  "  Have  no  fellowship 
with  the  unfruitful  works  of  darkness,  but  rather 
reprove  them:  for  it  is  a  shame  even  to  speak  of 
those  things  which  are  done  of  them  in  secret." 
And  this  is  important,  as  on  other  and  lower  grounds, 
so  because  it  ought  to  be  seen  in  the  realm  of  trade, 
what  the  genius  of  Christianity  is.  It  should  be  seen 
that  the  Bible,  though  the  friend  of  meekness,  is  not 
the  patron  of  pusillanimity ;  that  in  fostering  benevo 
lence,  it  no  where  inculcates  acquiescence  in  fraud 
and  falsehood ;  and  that  while  it  bids  us  forgive  an 
erring  brother,  on  his  repenting,  to  the  extent  of 
"  seventy  times  seven,"  it  requires  us  to  withstand 
and  rebuke  obdurate  offenders,  who  are  trampling 
truth  and  righteousness  under  their  feet. 

It  would  exhaust  your  patience  to  delineate  the 
other  mercantile  virtues  with  the  same  detail.  And 
it  will  be  both  a  more  summary  and  a  more  satisfac 
tory  expedient  to  lay  before  you,  in  concluding  this 
Lecture,  a  sample  of  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  on 
this  subject.  You  may  judge  for  yourselves,  whether 
Commerce  would  not  be  the  gainer  by  having  en 
throned  in  its  expanded  empire,  and  over  every,  even 
the  minutest,  of  its  traffickings,  an  authority  which 
abounds  in  utterances  like  these :  — 


96  THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

He  that  loveth  pleasure  shall  be  a  poor  man. 

Love  not  sleep,  lest  thou  come  to  poverty. 

He  that  is  slothful  in  his  work,  is  brother  to  him  that  is  a 
great  waster. 

He  that  trusteth  in  his  own  heart  is  a  fool. 

Be  patient  toward  all  men. 

The  meek  will  He  guide  in  judgment. 

Before  honour  is  humility. 

A  man's  pride  shall  bring  him  low. 

Ye  shall  do  no  unrighteousness  in  judgment,  in  meteyard, 
in  weight,  or  in  measure. 

Just  balances,  just  weights,  and  a  just  ephah,  and  a  just 
line,  shall  ye  have. 

This  is  the  will  of  God,  that  no  man  go  beyond  or  defraud 
his  brother  in  any  matter ;  because  that  the  Lord  is  the 
avenger  of  all  such. 

He  that  oppresseth  the  poor  to  increase  his  riches,  shall 
surely  come  to  want. 

He  that  maketh  haste  to  be  rich  shall  not  be  innocent. 

Trust  not  in  uncertain  riches,  but  in  the  living  God,  who 
giveth  us  richly  all  things  to  enjoy. 

He  that  giveth  to  the  poor  shall  not  lack. 

Say  not  to  thy  neighbour,  "  Go,  and  come  again,"  when 
thou  hast  it  by  thee. 

Putting  away  lying,  speak  every  man  truth  with  his  neigh 
bour. 

A  poor  man  is  better  than  a  liar. 

Seest  thou  a  man  hasty  in  his  words  ?  there  is  more  hope 
of  a  fool  than  of  him. 

Meddle  not  with  him  that  flattereth  with  his  lips. 

"  It  is  naught,  it  is  naught,"  saith  the  buyer ;  but  when 
he  is  gone  his  way,  then  he  boasteth. 


A   SAFE   CHART.  97 

There  is  that  maketh  himself  rich,  yet  hath  nothing :  there 
is  that  maketh  himself  poor,  yet  hath  great  riches. 

By  humility  and  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  are  riches  and  honour 
and  life. 

A  man  void  of  understanding  striketh  hands,  and  becometh 
burety  in  the  presence  of  his  friend. 

He  that  is  surety  for  a  stranger  shall  smart  for  it :  and  he 
that  hateth  suretyship  is  sure. 

If  any  of  you  lack  wisdom,  let  him  ask  of  God,  that  giveth 
to  all  men  liberally,  and  upbraideth  not ;  and  it  shall  be 
given  him. 

Follow  after  righteousness,  godliness,  faith,  love,  patience, 
meekness. 

All  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you, 
do  ye  even  so  to  them. 

Call  upon  me  in  the  day  of  trouble,  and  I  will  deliver  thee, 
and  thou  shalt  glorify  me. 

Let  your  conversation  be  without  covetousness  ;  and  be 
content  with  such  things  as  ye  have;  for  He  hath  said,  I 
will  never  leave  thee  nor  forsake  thee. 

Such  are  the  counsels  of  inspired  wisdom ;  such 
the  ethics  of  the  Word  of  God.  It  is  a  safe  and 
reliable  guide.  It  meets  all  the  exigencies  of  your 
profession.  It  provides  for  every  duty  and  every 
danger.  Its  principles  are  as  immutable  as  the 
throne  of  the  Deity.  Its  precepts  are  written  as 
with  a  sunbeam.  Its  promises  breathe  the  benevo 
lence  of  heaven.  The  character  which  is  formed 
upon  its  model,  will  command  universal  homage. 
The  life  that  draws  from  it  its  inspiration,  will  enrich 
9 


98  THE   BIBLE   IN  THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

and  bless  the  community  which  embosoms  it.  Let 
Commerce  take  the  BIBLE  as  its  chart,  and  through 
out  all  its  teeming  thoroughfares,  the  primeval  curse 
of  labour  will  be  despoiled  of  half  its  severity. 
Enthrone  the  BIBLE  in  your  COUNTING- HOUSES, 
and  the  God  of  the  Bible  will  bless  you  and  make 
you  a  blessing. 


HASTING   TO   BE   KICH.  99 


/utirtf;, 


HASTING   TO    BE   RICH. 

SOME  few  years  since  an  ingenious  manufacturer 
of  porcelain,  in  Persia,  acquired  a  celebrity  which 
reached  the  court,  and  brought  him  a  message  from 
the  Shah,  that  he  might  make  china  for  the  royal 
household.  Under  any  constitutional  or  just  govern 
ment,  such  an  intimation  would  have  been  a  fortune 
to  a  man.  But  what  did  the  artisan  do  ?  Mustering 
all  the  money  he  could,  he  took  it  to  the  prime 
minister,  and  bribed  him  to  report  to  the  king,  that 
he  was  not  the  person  who  made  the  china,  and 
that  the  real  workman  had  run  away,  nobody  knew 
whither.  The  ruse  succeeded.  The  man  was  dis 
charged,  and  vowed  that  he  would  never  make  a  bit 
of  china,  nor  attempt  any  other  improvement,  as 
long  as  he  lived. 

How  is  this  conduct  to  be  explained  ?  The  govern 
ment  of  Persia  is  a  pure  autocracy,  and  the  kings  are 


100          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUXTIXG-HOUSE. 

for  the  most  part  insatiate  tyrants.  They  have  the 
absolute  control  of  life,  liberty,  and  property,  through 
out  the  empire.  They  can  degrade,  and  even  decapi 
tate,  the  highest  nobles,  at  pleasure.  They  can  seize 
and  confiscate  any  estate.  For  a  mechanic  to  display 
any  remarkable  ingenuity,  is  only  to  expose  himself 
to  be  coerced  into  the  service  of  the  crown  without 
compensation.  For  a  merchant  to  accumulate  pro 
perty,  is  to  invite  the  most  merciless  exactions  from 
the  myrmidons  of  the  throne.  The  mechanic  just 
mentioned,  knew  that  he  would  be  compelled  to  spend 
the  rest  of  his  life  in  working  for  the  king  and  his 
court,  without  requital ;  and  not  relishing  the  pros 
pect,  devised  the  scheme  I  have  described  to  escape 
from  it.  The  necessary  tendency  of  this  despotic 
system,  is,  not  only  to  foster  deceit  and  falsehood 
among  the  people,  but  to  repress  the  efforts  of  indus 
try  and  paralyze  the  powers  of  invention ;  for  no 
man  will  sow  where  he  has  no  prospect  of  reaping. 
Security  of  life  and  property  is  one  of  the  essential 
elements  which  distinguish  true  civilization  from  a 
state  of  barbarism.  There  can  be  no  real  liberty  in 
a  country,  the  inhabitants  of  which  are  debarred  from 
the  legitimate  exertion  of  their  powers,  or  not  pro 
tected  in  the  possession  of  the  property  they  have 
fairly  acquired. 

And  if  these  things  are  so,   then   the   agrarian 


MUTUAL   DEPENDENCE.  101 

reformers  of  our  day,  who  declaim  against  the  accu 
mulation  of  fortunes,  and  demand  a  distribution  of  all 
large  estates  among  the  poor,  have  mistaken  their 
country.  They  are  the  types  and  representatives  of 
barbarism,  a  foul  excrescence  on  the  fair  face  of 
Christian  civilization ;  and  their  proper  place  is  with 
the  horde  of  extortioners  who  do  the  bidding  of  the 
Shah  of  Persia  or  the  Grand  Mogul.  The  attempts 
which  men  of  this  stamp  put  forth,  to  array  the  poor 
against  the  rich,  to  make  them  feel  that  the  rich  are 
their  oppressors  and  the  enemies  of  society,  are  of 
such  flagitious  wickedness,  that  any  legislature  would 
be  warranted  in  making  them  a  penitentiary  offence. 
The  interests  of  a  community,  certainly  of  any  com 
munity  in  this  country,  are  too  firmly  interlaced  to 
be  torn  asunder,  without  inflicting  irreparable  injury 
upon  the  body  politic.  There  is  a  reciprocal  inter 
dependence  of  the  various  classes  and  professions 
upon  one  another.  The  same  principles  which  guard 
the  ample  wealth  of  the  capitalist  from  invasion, 
secure  to  the  weaver  his  loom,  to  the  shoemaker  his 
bench,  to  the  drayman  his  cart,  to  the  labourer  his 
dollar-a-day  and  the  little  furniture  which  adorns  his 
attic.  The  very  capitalist,  whom  some  blustering 
Fourierite  may  stigmatize  in  his  harangues  as  a  use 
less  and  rapacious  leech  whose  resources  ought  to  be 
thrown  into  a  common  stock,  once  sat,  perhaps,  at 
9* 


102          THE   BIBLE    IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

his  loom,  or  hammered  at  the  anvil,  or  served  as 
proof-boy  in  a  printer's  office.  Living  in  a  land  of 
law,  where  the  strongest  motives  impelled  him  to 
exertion,  and  the  whole  power  of  the  State  guarded 
his  humble  earnings,  he  has  risen,  by  the  favour  of 
Providence,  to  his  present  honourable  position.  Is 
there  an  honest  weaver  or  blacksmith  or  printer  to 
be  found,  who  will  say  that  his  fellow-craftsman  is  to 
be  blamed,  or  that  our  institutions  are  to  be  denounced 
as  unjust  and  oppressive,  because  they  admit  of  such 
results  as  this?  Unjust  to  whom?  Oppressive  to 
wrhom  ?  Surely  not  to  the  poor.  They,  of  all  classes, 
have  the  least  reason  to  complain  of  a  system  which 
makes  it  practicable  for  them,  which  even  makes  it 
an  every-day  thing  with  them,  to  emerge  from  their 
condition  of  dependence,  surround  themselves  with 
the  comforts  of  life,  and  bestow  upon  their  families 
the  advantages  which  a  competence  can  always  com 
mand. 

This,  however,  is  not  all.  The  capitalist  is  so  far 
from  being  an  incubus,  that  he  is  quite  indispensable 
to  the  vigorous  and  healthy  working  of  the  great 
social  machine.  Let  the  entire  property  of  Philadel 
phia  be  thrown  into  a  common  stock,  and  divided 
pro  rata  among  its  population :  and  what  would  be 
the  effect  ?  At  one  blow,  the  banks,  insurance  offices, 
savings-funds,  and  other  financial  institutions,  would 


AN    AGRARIAN   REFORMATION.  103 

tumble  to  the  ground.  The  large  mercantile  houses, 
which  give  employment  to  so  many  clerks,  porters, 
draymen,  coopers,  carpenters,  and  the  like,  would 
dwindle  into  small  retail  shops.  All  the  business 
which  now  rests  on  a  credit-basis  would  cease.  Not 
a  hammer  would  be  heard  in  the  ship-yards.  The 
silence  of  death  would  replace  the  intolerable,  but 
productive,  clatter  of  the  foundries  and  machine-shops. 
All  the  spindles  in  the  factories  would  stop  at  once, 
and  those  in  private  tenements  would  soon  follow 
them.  Dismantled  ships  would  deform  the  wharves. 
Idlers  and  vagabonds  would  throng  the  streets.  Fresh 
prisons  and  alms-houses  would  be  needed,  and  there 
would  be  neither  funds  nor  credit  to  build  them. 
Our  noble  array  of  religious  and  charitable  associa 
tions  would  be  shorn  of  their  efficiency,  if  not  anni 
hilated.  And,  in  fine,  this  proud  metropolis  would 
disclose  the  symptoms  of  a  universal  and  remediless 
decay,  and  the  multitudes,  as  they  passed  by,  "  would 
say,  every  man  to  his  neighbour,  '  Wherefore  hath 
the  Lord  done  thus  unto  this  great  city  ?' ' 

While,  however,  this  prejudice  against  capital, 
whether  personal  or  associated,  is  a  shallow  and 
hateful  feeling,  and  while  the  absolute  security  of 
property  and  the  accumulation  of  riches  are  admitted 
to  be  essential  to  the  prosperity  of  States  and  the 
diffusion  of  Christianity,  it  is  quite  possible  for  indi- 


104          THE    BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

viduals  to  aspire  after  wealth  with  an  inordinate  pas 
sion,  and  to  pursue  it  by  unwarrantable  and  pernicious 
methods.  In  vindicating  the  established  institutions 
of  society  against  the  revolutionary  doctrines  of 
pseudo-reformers,  we  by  no  means  assume  the  cham 
pionship  of  the  commercial  classes,  in  respect  either 
to  all  their  usages,  or  to  the  animus  by  which  they 
are  so  largely  controlled.  In  particular,  if  the  BIBLE 
is  to  be  recognized  as  an  authority  in  the  COUNTING- 
HOUSE,  the  stamp  of  a  stern  and  decisive  reproba 
tion  must  be  put  upon  that  PASSION  FOR  SUDDEN 
WEALTH  which  has  long  been  one  of  our  prominent 
national  characteristics.  This,  indeed,  is  no  new  sin 
in  the  world.  It  is,  in  any  event,  as  old  as  the  time  of 
Solomon.  And  it  is  curious  to  trace  its  diagnosis  in 
his  day.  Thus  he  says,  "  He  that  maketh  haste  to 
be  rich,  shall  not  be  innocent."  Again:  "An  inheri 
tance  may  be  gotten  hastily  at  the  beginning ;  but 
the  end  thereof  shall  not  be  blessed."  And  again  : 
"  He  that  hasteth  to  be  rich,  hath  an  evil  eye,  and 
considereth  not  that  poverty  shall  come  upon  him." 
(Proverbs,  28  :  20,  22.  20  :  21.)  This  appears  to  be 
the  identical  disease  which  has  come  down  to  our 
day  —  identical,  even  if  we  combine  with  the  symp 
toms  noted  by  Solomon,  the  consequences  pointed 
out  by  the  apostle  a  thousand  years  later  :  —  "  But 
they  that  will  be  rich,  fall  into  temptation  and  a 


A   CHRONIC    MALADY.  105 

snare,  and  into  many  foolish  and  hurtful  lusts,  which 
drown  men  in  destruction  and  perdition.  For  the 
love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil :  which,  while 
some  coveted  after,  they  have  erred  from  the  faith 
and  pierced  themselves  through  with  many  sorrows." 
(I.  Tim.  6 :  9,  10.)  The  malady  and  its  effects  are 
the  same  now  as  of  old,  and  it  is  at  least  as  common 
and  as  malignant  in  this  country  as  in  any  other. 

I  am  aware  with  what  jealousy  remarks  from  the 
pulpit  on  this  subject  are  likely  to  be  listened  to. 
You  are  apt  to  feel  that  when  the  pulpit  denounces 
the  lust  of  prompt  and  eager  accumulation,  it  touches 
upon  ground  beyond  its  jurisdiction,  and  betrays  an 
ignorance  of  the  legitimate  ends  and  methods  of 
traffic.  You  are  ready  to  ask,  somewhat  tartly, 
"  Whether  it  is  not  one  of  the  proper  objects  of  trade 
to  make  money?"  and  "  Whether  there  is  any  more 
sin  in  clearing  five  hundred  dollars  a  day,  than  fifty?" 
But  these  are  mere  cavils.  They  are  rarely  uttered 
in  good  faith,  and  therefore  they  require  no  answer. 
Every  merchant  worthy  of  the  name,  understands  the 
nature  and  the  pernicious  working  of  the  passion  I 
have  spoken  of,  as  distinguished  from  the  genuine 
commercial  spirit.  The  strength  and  prevalence  of 
it  in  this  country,  are  to  be  ascribed  to  a  variety  of 
causes,  among  which  may  be  enumerated,  the  genius 
and  tendency  of  our  liberal  institutions,  the  extent 


106          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

and  variety  of  our  physical  resources,  the  absence  of . 
all  aristocratic  distinctions  and  the  consequent  social 
importance  and  influence  which  follow  the  distribution 
of  wealth,  the  enterprise  and  ambition  developed  by 
the  peculiar  circumstances  of  our  country,  and  the 
momentum  impressed  upon  the  age  by  the  discovery 
of  new  mechanical  powers,  fresh  inventions  in  the 
arts,  and  the  unexampled  concentration  of  the  talent 
and  the  science  of  the  world,  upon  matters  pertaining 
to  the  practical  improvement  of  society  and  the  eco 
nomical  well-being  of  the  individual  man.  These  and 
other  agencies  have  combined  to  stimulate  the  love 
of  money  to  a  very  unhealthy  degree,  and  to  inocu 
late  the  nation  at  large  (it  may  almost  be  said)  with 
a  restless  hankering  after  wealth. 

In  the  Counting-room,  this  passion  displays  itself 
in  an  intense  eagerness  for  large  and  quick  profits. 
The  ordinary  profits  of  business  are  neither  very 
quick  nor  very  large.  It  is  one  of  the  most  common 
of  all  errors  with  young  merchants  to  over-estimate 
them.  The  prospective  results  they  cipher  out,  with 
all  imaginable  skill  and  pains-taking,  are  rarely,  if 
ever,  realized.  Many  a  man  of  undoubted  sagacity 
and  tact,  has  been  astounded  with  the  retrospect  of 
his  first  year's  business.  Such  an  excess  of  personal 
and  domestic  expenses  above  his  calculations  —  such 
remissness  or  dishonesty  among  his  customers  —  such 


ANTICIPATION   AND   FRUITION.  107 

unforeseen  vicissitudes  in  the  markets  —  so  many  in 
cidental  chinks  and  crevices  through  which  his  profits 
have  percolated,  —  he  can  scarcely  credit  his  own 
senses,  when  he  lays  his  truth-telling  Balance-sheet 
along-side  of  the  magnificent  scheme  he  adjusted  with 
so  much  precision  a  twelve-month  before.  The  appro 
priate  remedy  in  a  case  of  this  kind,  any  prudent 
merchant  could  suggest :  but  prudence  is  not  a 
favourite  counsellor  with  ardent  and  ambitious  men 
in  any  department  of  life.  And  the  too  common 
effect  is,  to  put  the  disappointed  parties  upon  a  course 
of  policy,  wrhich  may  enlarge  their  sales,  indeed,  but 
will  in  a  greater  degree  multiply  their  perils.  Tra 
ders  in  these  circumstances  not  only,  but  others  who 
are  more  advantageously  situated,  are  apt  to  revolt 
at  the  idea  of  spending  a  long  series  of  years  in  the 
"  drudgery"  of  business.  Their  profits  must  in  some 
way  be  increased.  This  may  be  tried  by  taking 
advantage  of  the  distance  or  the  ignorance  of  custo 
mers,  and  selling  them  goods  above  the  market  value, 
or  antiquated  goods  for  fresh  ones.  Firms  that  at 
tempt  this,  may  succeed  in  it  for  a  while ;  but  it  is 
preposterous  to  suppose  they  can  carry  it  on  long. 
Buyers  are  of  course  on  the  alert  to  learn  the  actual 
state  of  the  market ;  and  whenever  they  discover  that 
their  confidence  has  been  abused,  they  will  feel  no 
scruple  in  stigmatising  the  offending  house  far  and 


108          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

near  as  as  a  dishonourable  concern. —  This  expedient. 
for  securing  large  profits  is  not  to  be  commended. 

As  little  can  be  said  in  favour  of  selling  to  parties 
without  due  inquiry  as  to  their  commercial  standing. 
It  might  be  supposed  that  self-interest  would  be  a 
sufficient  restraint  on  this  point,  but  the  fact  is  quite 
otherwise.  Such  are  the  zealous  rivalries  of  trade, 
that  goods  enough  to  stock  a  score  or  two  of  small 
towns,  are  annually  sold  to  men  of  no  responsibility. 
The  embarrassment  and  difficulty  inseparable  from 
investigations  on  this  point,  must  constitute  one  of 
the  chief  trials  of  a  mercantile  life,  a  source  of  anxiety 
akin  to  that  of  the  paying-teller  of  a  bank,  who  must 
be  all  day  haunted  with  apprehension  lest  some  of 
the  checks  received  at  his  counter  may  be  forgeries. 
But  no  desire  for  business  will  justify  recklesness  in 
trafficking  with  men  who  are  without  satisfactory 
credentials.  It  will  not  do  to  say,  that  if  you  are 
willing  to  assume  the  risk,  no  one  else  can  have  any 
reason  to  complain.  There  is  a  question  of  morals 
here  as  well  as  a  question  of  dollars  and  cents.  The 
ethics  of  the  BIBLE  certainly  will  not  sanction  your 
running  this  hazard.  Imprudence  may  amount  to  a 
sin.  And  what  right  have  you,  even  though  you  might 
afford  to  lose  your  whole  venture,  to  set  an  example 
of  rashness,  which  can  hardly  fail  to  have  a  hurtful 
influence  upon  other  houses  ?  What  right  have  you 


FACILITY   IN   TRUSTING.  109 

to  put  your  imprimatur  upon  shiftless  adventurers, 
who  will  make  the  bill  of  goods  you  have  sold  them 
a  passport  to  the  confidence  of  the  firms  around  you  ? 
The  body  to  which  you  belong,  has  a  common  interest 
in  shutting  out  from  the  walks  of  trade  all  unsound 
and  fraudulent  dealers.  Many  of  this  description 
must  come  up  with  the  spring  and  fall  freshets  from 
the  South  and  West,  which  pour  themselves  into  our 
large  cities.  To  countenance  them,  is  to  inflict  a 
double  wrong  :  it  is  a  wrong  to  the  metropolitan  mer 
chant,  and  an  equal  wrong  to  their  customers  from  the 
country.  The  buyers  are  no  less  concerned  than  the 
sellers,  in  having  their  ranks  purged  of  unreliable 
men  :  for  the  misdemeanors  of  these  men  operate  to 
the  disadvantage  of  the  body  at  large,  by  raising  the 
market  and  impairing  that  confidence  which  lies  at 
the  basis  of  successful  commerce.  On  these  grounds 
we  affirm  the  immorality  of  that  facility  in  trusting 
parties  of  no  ascertained  responsibility,,  which  so  often 
goes  along  with  a  craving  for  sudden  wealth. 

On  the  same  principles,  it  may  be  observed  here 
in  passing,  every  community  is  liable  to  suifer  more 
or  less  from  instances  of  fraudulent  bankruptcy. 
If  one  wished  to  select  an  emblem  of  timidity  from 
the  commercial  world,  he  would  fix  upon  credit. 
Nothing  is  more  easily  frightened ;  nothing  so  keen 
in  scenting  danger.  To  its  ear  the  world  is  a  great 
10 


110          THE    BIBLE    IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

whispering-gallery,  which  transmits  every  note  o£ 
alarm,  whether  emanating  from  the  council-chamber 
of  a  distant  cabinet,  the  cotton-fields  of  Mississippi, 
the  gold  mines  of  California,  or  the  crash  of  a  mer 
cantile  establishment.  Every  example  of  this  latter 
kind,  especially  if  stamped  with  dishonesty,  creates 
distrust,  sets  capital  upon  demanding  fresh  securities, 
increases  the  difficulty  of  getting  discounts,  occasions 
mischievous  conjectures  as  to  the  stability  of  other 
houses,  and  in  various  ways  damages  the  wrhole  tra 
ding  interest.  On  the  low  ground  of  self-protection, 
therefore,  every  merchant  has  a  stake  in  keeping  up 
the  morals  of  trade  to  the  highest  standard,  and  in 
setting  his  face  as  a  flint  against  every  form  of  dis 
honesty. 

It  is  a  natural  transition  from  the  topics  with  which 
we  have  been  occupied,  to  over-trading.  And  it  will 
not  be  inappropriate  to  consider  in  this  connexion, 
the  subject  of  contracting  debts,  whether  with  or  with 
out  a  morbid  passion  for  exorbitant  and  speedy  gains. 
The  word  "over-trading"  has  a  vagueness  of  meaning 
for  which  some  persons  may  like  it  all  the  better. 
The  lexicographers  do  not  recognize  it ;  and  if  they 
should,  they  would  be  obliged  to  substitute  a  periph 
rasis  for  a  definition.  And  yet  for  all  practical 
purposes  it  is  sufficient  to  say,  that  it  denotes  the 
doing  a  business  disproportionate  to  one's  capital. 


OVER-TRADING.  Ill 

The  just  relation,  it  is  true,  between  capital  and  busi 
ness,  is  not  immutable.  The  same  capital  would 
perhaps  warrant  a  business  of  a  half-million  now, 
which  would  not  have  warranted  a  quarter  of  a  mil 
lion  a  few  years  ago  —  such  is  the  general  prosperity 
of  the  country,  and  so  favourable,  in  a  commercial 
view,  the  condition  of  the  world  at  large.  These, 
however,  are  the  seasons  wThen  men  are  tempted  to 
be  imprudent.  Disregarding  the  contingencies  in 
volved  in  so  auspicious  a  state  of  things,  and  borne 
onward  upon  the  current  of  a  redundant  success,  they 
are  induced  to  assume  new  engagements  and  to  extend 
their  transactions,  until  it  wrould  startle  them,  could 
they  pause  long  enough  to  see  upon  how  slender  and 
fragile  a  base  they  have  reared  their  imposing  super 
structure.  They  did  not  mean  to  be  imprudent. 
But  it  requires  a  more  than  Fabian  virtue  for  a  mer 
chant  to  be  moderate  and  tranquil  when  all  his  neigh 
bours  are  flying  towards  the  goal  of  Fortune  with  a 
telegraphic  velocity.  Few  men  can,  in  these  circum 
stances,  resist  the  tendency  to  do  indiscreet  things. 
Not  only  is  the  dividing  line  between  prudence  and 
imprudence  obscured,  but  the  landmarks  of  right  and 
wrong  glimmer  before  them  as  they  would  if  their 
eyes  were  smitten  with  the  cataract.  They  do  not 
see  —  they  are  not  anxious  to  see  —  where  they  ought 
to  stop  buying  goods,  nor  where  they  should  stop 


112         THE   BIBLE   IX   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

selling.  They  are  not  in  a  mood  for  examining 
Ledgers  and  Bank-books.  Figures  have  lost  their 
fixed,  mathematical  significance.  They  look  at  them 
through  a  combination  of  cross-lights,  which  makes 
another  thing  of  them.  All  their  estimates  and  cal 
culations  tend  in  one  direction,  because  they  exclude 
from  them  any  proper  consideration  of  the  hazards  and 
uncertainties  incident  to  their  extravagant  operations. 
And  if  ever  some  experienced  friend  ventures  to  hint 
that  they  may  be  going  too  fast,  the  monition  is 
treated  as  the  well-meant,  but  womanish,  fear  of  one 
whose  ideas  quite  antedate  this  sublime  era  of  loco 
motives  and  electric  telegraphs. —  This  imperial  style 
of  doing  business  might  answer,  if  it  were  not  for  one 
trifling  consideration,  to  wit,  the  necessity,  so  much 
insisted  upon,  of  a  ma.n's  paying  his  debts ;  for 
"  creditors  are  a  superstitious  sect,  great  observers  of 
set  days  and  times."  Absolution  from  this  practice, 
would  put  it  in  the  power  of  our  adventurous  traf 
fickers  to  replenish  their  warehouses  with  an  inex 
haustible  stock  of  goods,  and  to  do  an  amount  of 
business  commensurate  with  their  largest  ambition. 
But  in  default  of  such  exemption,  the  period  of  set 
tlement  will  by  and  by  come  round,  when  the  cata 
racts  will  be  removed,  and  the  figures  will  stand  out 
in  all  their  colossal  proportions,  and  nothing  will 
answer,  in  place  of  the  profound  calculations  and 


ENDORSING.  113 

brilliant  day-dreams  of  the  business-season,  but  vulgar 
cash  —  sober,  substantial  money,  that  can  be  weighed 
like  lead,  and  with  as  little  poetry  in  it.  The  scenes 
which  are  apt  to  follow,  need  not  be  described  :  there 
will  be  occasion  to  refer  to  them  hereafter.  Enough 
for  the  present,  to  have  glanced  at  the  usual  winding- 
up  of  a  career  of  over-trading. 

Improvidence  in  contracting  debts,  is  but  a  part 
of  the  same  system.  An  excessive  business  demands 
excessive  means,  and  these  means  can  be  obtained 
only  by  borrowing.  Borrowing,  again,  requires  en 
dorsing^  and  endorsing  becomes  a  reciprocal  thing. 
A.  endorses  for  B.,  and  B.  endorses  for  A. ;  and, 
keeping  their  accounts  in  different  banks,  to  say 
nothing  of  loans  from  private  bankers,  they  are  able 
to  get  all  the  money  they  want,  and,  possibly,  a  great 
deal  more  than  they  ought  to  have.  It  may  seem 
presumptuous  to  impugn  a  principle  which  has  the 
general  sanction  of  the  commercial  world ;  but  no  one 
can  deny  that  the  practice  of  endorsing  is  peculiarly 
liable  to  abuse.  In  the  first  place,  the  security  it 
affords  is  very  often  of  no  real  value.  Such  are  the 
mutual  responsibilities  of  endorsers,  that  the  failure 
of  one  is  the  failure  of  all :  when  one  link  gives  way, 
the  chain  is  gone.  In  the  second  place,  the  custom 
encourages  imprudence.  It  is  hazardous  to  put  a 
man  in  a  position  to  feel  that  if  his  plans  succeed,  all 
10* 


114          THE   BIBLE   IN    THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

the  gains  will  be  his  own,  and  if  they  fail,  he  can 
share  the  loss  with  his  neighbours.  Why  should  you 
lend  your  name  to  a  man  to  do  that  which  he  would 
not  feel  it  safe  to  do  if  he  were  going  to  risk  only  his 
own  capital?  This,  I  am  aware,  is  not  always  the 
case  in  endorsing,  but  it  is  frequently  the  case.  And 
the  conviction  that  an  endorser  is  at  hand,  will  brino;; 

"  O 

up  questions  before  the  mind  in  a  very  specious  and 
illusive  aspect.  To  contract  a  debt  is  a  serious  mat 
ter  ;  but  it  loses  half  its  gravity  when  half  its  respon 
sibility  is  cancelled.  The  feeling  is,  "  I  will  go  into 
this  operation  if  you  will  stand  by  m$ ;  if  not,  I  will 
let  it  alone."  To  say  that  this  is  necessarily  a  wrong 
feeling,  or  that  the  transaction  must  be  an  unwise 
one,  would  be  going  too  far.  But  will  it  be  denied 
that  very  many  of  the  transactions  undertaken  in  this 
spirit,  might  better  be  let  alone?  that  they  even 
trench  on  the  line  of  strict  honesty  ?  Honesty  forbids 
that  we  should  assume  obligations  without  having,  on 
a  fair  and  reasonable  estimate  of  things,  the  ability  to 
discharge  them.  The  moment  a  man  is  assured  of 
an  endorser,  he  is  in  danger  of  over-estimating  his 
resources.  Mistaking  the  nature  of  the  arrangement, 
he  even  regards  the  endorsement  as  pro  tanto  an 
accession  to  his  capital;  whereas  not  one  dollar  is 
added  to  his  capital,  but  his  liabilities  are  increased 
to  the  full  amount  of  the  sum  borrowed.  I  say  "  Ms 


DISASTROUS   FRUITS   OF   THE    SYSTEM.          115 

liabilities,"  because  in  morals  they  are  his  in  a  sense 
in  which  they  are  not  his  endorser's.  The  law  may 
hold  them  to  a  joint  responsibility;  and  integrity 
will  exact  payment  of  the  endorser  if  the  drawer  fails. 
But  the  drawer  is  bound  to  the  endorser.  He  has  no 
more  moral  right  to  procure  an  endorsement  without 
adequate  means  of  protecting  it,  than  he  has  to  order 
a  bill  of  goods  without  the  means  of  paying  it.  Just 
in  proportion,  however,  to  the  facility  with  which 
endorsements  can  be  obtained,  will  men  of  limited 
capital,  who  are  impatient  for  the  profits  or  the 
honour  of  a  large  business,  be  tempted  to  use  them. 
It  is  on  this  ground  —  as  an  enticement  to  rashness 
and  a  bait  to  dishonesty  —  that  a  teacher  of  morals 
is  authorized  to  remonstrate  against  the  prevalent 
abuse  of  this  principle  of  endorsing  in  the  commercial 
world. 

There  is  a  third  objection,  viz. :  that  it  is  a  fruitful 
source  of  financial  disaster  and  ruin.  It  ruins,  fre 
quently,  the  very  parties  who  resort  to  it,  by  seducing 
them,  in  the  way  just  specified,  into  mercantile  extra 
vagances  wholly  incommensurate  with  their  means. 
It  ruins  endorsers.  And  among  these,  too  often,  are 
men  whose  improvident  kindness  reduces  their  fami 
lies  to  penury.  Inquire  of  the  decayed  merchants 
of  any  city,  go  through  the  teeming  ranks  of  seam 
stresses,  school-mistresses,  and  boarding-house  keep- 


116          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

ers,  go  to  the  widows'  asylums  and  other  kindred 
institutions,  and  see  wiiat  an  amount  of  suffering  and 
sorrow  you  can  trace  to  this  vicious  principle  of 
endorsing.  It  is  a  perennial  fountain  of  trouble,  the 
bitter  streams  of  which  have  desolated  thousands  of 
once  happy  homes.  One  is  sometimes  almost  ready, 
in  surveying  a  wreck  of  this  kind,  to  denounce  the 
principle  itself,  which  has  been  the  occasion  of  the 
disaster,  as  unworthy  of  a  place  among  the  imple 
ments  of  honourable  commerce.  Nor  is  this  feelirio* 

O 

abated  by  the  suggestion,  that  no  one  is  compelled 
to  endorse  for  his  friend,  and  that  it  is  wrong  for 
men  to  assume  responsibilities  of  this  sort  dispropor- 
tioned  to  their  property.  It  is  wrong.  No  man  has 
a  right  to  imperil  the  comfort  and  earthly  happiness 
of  his  family  for  the  sake  of  accommodating  his 
neighbour.  Good  neighbourhood  has  its  claims,  but 
this  is  not  one  of  them.  And  it  is  a  sad  thing  that 
men  should  so  often  lack  the  firmness  to  refuse 
favours  which  they  cannot  grant  without  jeoparding 
the  interests  of  their  own  households.  Still,  men  will 
do  these  things.  They  will  put  their  names  on  paper 
which  they  ought  no  more  to  touch  than  they  would 
dally  with  a  rattle-snake.  And  the  process  will  go 
on  as  it  has  gone ;  other  families  will  be  ruined,  and 
widows  and  orphans  without  number  will  continue  to 
swell  the  ranks  of  the  unfortunate  victims  of  endorsing. 


RUNNING   IN   DEBT.  117 

It  should  not,  therefore,  excite  surprise  that  persons 
who  look  at  the  working  of  the  principle  from  a  dis 
tance,  take  up  the  conviction  that  there  is  something 
wrong  in  it ;  that  the  alleged  commercial  necessity  for 
retaining  it,  if  not  of  the  most  stringent  character, 
ought  to  give  way  to  the  numberless  social  and  moral 
evils  it  produces  ;  and  that,  in  any  event,  some  further 
efforts  should  be  made  in  the  way  of  legislative  enact 
ments  or  otherwise,  to  abate  the  intolerable  abuses 
now  incident  to  the  system. 

These  observations  can  scarcely  be  deemed  out  of 
place  in  treating  of  the  contracting  of  debts.  Un 
happily,  the  laxness  which  prevails  on  the  subject  of 
endorsing,  is  not  confined  to  that  mode  of  running  in 
debt.  The  current  tone  of  the  business-world  on  this 
point,  is  quite  below  the  proper  standard.  No  one 
would  wish  to  see  all  the  trafficking  of  the  world 
reduced  to  cash  payments.  Credit  is  one  of  the 
beneficent  fruits  of  Christian  civilization,  and,  though 
itself  an  effect,  is  in  turn  a  most  powerful  agent  in 
developing  the  resources  of  nations  and  accelerating 
their  progress.  But  to  contract  debts  without  a  rea 
sonable  prospect  of  being  able  to  pay  them  when  they 
become  due,  is  both  a  sin  and  a  sure  source  of  per 
plexity  and  trouble.  That  is  a  very  pregnant  aphor 
ism,  "the  borrower  is  servant  to  the  lender."  Dr. 
Franklin  has  expanded  this  thought  in  one  of  his 


118          THE   EIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

pithy  essays.  "  Think  what  you  do  when  you  run 
in  debt :  you  give  to  another  power  over  your  liberty. 
If  you  cannot  pay  at  the  time,  you  will  be  ashamed 
to  see  your  creditor,  you  will  be  in  fear  when  you 
speak  to  him,  when  you  will  make  poor,  pitiful  ex 
cuses,  and  by  degrees  come  to  lose  your  veracity  and 
sink  into  base,  downright  lying :  for  '  the  second  vice 
is  lying,  the  first  is  running  in  debt/  as  poor  Richard 
says ;  and  again,  to  the  same  purpose,  '  Lying  rides 
upon  debt's  back :'  whereas  a  free-born  Englishman* 
ought  not  to  be  ashamed  nor  afraid  to  see  or  speak 
to  any  man  living."  These  are  among  the  ordinary 
effects  of  recklessness  in  contracting  debts.  It  puts 
a  man  in  bondage  to  his  creditors,  and  makes  him 
shun  them.  It  drives  peace  from  his  bosom,  and 
brings  down  a  cloud  upon  his  brow.  It  fills  him  with 
harrowing  apprehensions  of  disaster.  It  puts  him,  or 
may  put  him,  upon  shifts  and  expedients  for  averting 
the  dreaded  storm  which  he  once  would  not  have 
resorted  to,  and  which  the  Bible  in  his  counting- 
room  (if  he  have  one  there)  will  not  sanction.  Un 
derstand  —  this  is  not  said  indiscriminately  of  men  in 
debt,  but  of  those  who  have  been  culpably  improvident 
in  contracting  debts.  There  is  no  necessary  disgrace 
attached  to  being  in  debt,  nor  to  being  unable  to 

*  Written  before  the  Revolution. 


THE  DEBTOR'S  PENALTY.  119 

meet  one's  engagements.  Such  are  the  contingencies 
of  commerce  that  the  most  honourable  and  prudent 
men  may  find  themselves  in  this  situation ;  and  they 
have  no  cause  to  feel  abashed,  no  reason  to  shrink 
from  meeting  their  creditors  as  freely  as  they  have 
always  met  them.  The  creditor  who  in  a  case  of 
this  sort  would  not  treat  his  unfortunate  neighbour  or 
correspondent  with  courtesy  and  kindness,  is  unworthy 
of  a  place  among  upright  merchants.  But  these 
examples,  it  is  to  be  feared,  are  the  exceptions.  A 
large  portion  of  the  debts  which  involve  mercantile 
houses  in  embarrassment,  are  to  be  traced  to  a  grasp 
ing  after  sudden  wealth,  to  the  ambition  of  doing  a 
great  business,  or  to  extravagance  in  living.  Im 
pelled  by  these  causes,  men  of  moderate  means  com 
mit  themselves  to  the  resistless  current  which  sweeps 
through  the  channels  of  commerce,  and  are  too  much 
regaled  with  the  omens  of  an  opulent  prosperity  to 
observe  whither  it  is  bearing  them.  "When  the  en 
chantment  is  at  length  dissolved,  they  learn  how 
much  easier  it  is  to  contract  liabilities  than  to  meet 
them.  And  they  have  ample  opportunity  to  consider 
whether  a  transient  eclat  for  enterprise,  or  an  evan 
escent  notoriety  for  splendid  entertainments,  is  any 
adequate  recompense  for  a  ruined  business,  the  dis 
pleasure  of  creditors,  and  a  wounded  conscience. 
I  am  acquainted  with  an  estimable  young  man  who 


120          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

remarked  one  day,  "  If  I  cannot  make  money  enough 
by  the  time  I  am  thirty  years  old,  I  don't  wish  to  do 
business."  What  would  his  grandfather  have  thought 
of  a  youth  who  had  made  that  observation  in  his  day  ? 
What  would  our  senior  merchants  have  thought,  forty 
years  ago,  of  a  system  of  business  which  contemplated 
a  man's  retiring  on  a  fortune  at  thirty !  This,  to  be 
sure,  may  not  prove  that  the  feeling  is  a  wrong  one. 
Nor,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  is  the  plan  without  some 
actual  examples  to  illustrate  it.  But  the  sentiment  I 
have  quoted,  is  useful  as  showing  the  ideas  of  busi 
ness  which  prevail  in  our  day.  It  was  the  view  my 
young  friend  had  imbibed  while  a  clerk  in  Market 
street,  and  which,  it  must  be  conceded,  fairly  reflects 
the  spirit  of  the  times.  It  is  the  identical  spirit  I 
have  been  combating  in  this  Lecture,  and  which 
every  one  must  resist,  who  would  have  the  BIBLE 
established  in  our  COUNTING-HOUSES.  It  is,  in  a 
word,  a  craving  after  sudden  wrealth.  It  ignores  all 
the  moral  uses  of  a  frugal  and  industrious  life.  It 
overlooks  all  the  contingencies  of  trade.  It  proceeds 
on  the  assumption  that  "  a  fortune"  can  certainly  be 
made  within  a  specified  period.  So  visionary  a  theory 
might  at  first  be  deemed  very  harmless ;  but  while  it 
is  powerless  for  good,  it  has  a  great  capacity  for  evil. 
Aspiring  to  the  fulfilment  of  its  own  prophecy,  it 
must  predispose  those  who  embrace  it,  to  adopt  the 


RETIRING    AT    THIRTY.  121 

very  measures  we  have  been  reprobating  as  devices 
for  rapid  and  excessive  accumulation.  It  is  a  danger 
ous  thing  for  a  man  to  set  out  in  business  with  the 
feeling,  that  his  work  is  to  be  done  in  at  most  ten  years, 
and  then  he  is  to  enjoy  his  wealth  for  the  rest  of  his 
days.  He  will  need,  on  this  plan,  to  insure  something 
besides  his  property.  For  it  will  be  a  miracle  if  he 
runs  through  his  brief,  but  tumultuous,  circuit,  with 
out  compromising  his  integrity  and  debasing  his  con 
science.  And  aside  from  this,  whence  comes  the 
vagrant  notion  that  you  can  "enjoy"  life  only  when 
you  shall  have  earned  a  discharge  from  business  ? 
Business  certainly  has  its  cares  and  its  anxieties;  but 
it  were  a  curious  classification  of  things,  to  array  busi 
ness  and  happiness  against  each  other  —  to  assign 
business  to  one  portion  of  life,  and  enjoyment  to  an 
other.  Good  and  evil  are  not  arranged  in  these 
massive  strata,  but  intermixed  throughout  the  whole 
of  life.  There  are  no  happier  men  than  some  whom 
you  could  find  among  the  busiest  of  our  busy  mer 
chants  ;  there  are  none  more  miserable  than  some 
whose  ample  patrimony  or  acquired  wealth  has  exon 
erated  them  from  the  necessity  of  labour,  and  left 
them  to  die  of  ennui.  Yiewed  as  classes,  the  balance 
is  strongly  in  favour  of  the  working,  as  distinguished 
from  the  retired,  men.  The  latter  not  unfrequently 
find  the  vacuity  of  a  leisure  life  so  intolerable,  that 

•*•  n    \ 

,  V  *  •        *     *     »  M  *       —  ». 

*  •; 


122          THE    BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

after  a  few  years  they  put  on  the  harness  again,  and 
go  back  to  the  counting-room.*  You  must  have 
observed  how  much  deeper  and  more  enduring  is  the 
interest  your  children  take  in  a  toy  or  play-thing 
which  is  to  be  thrown  or  turned  or  worked  in  some 
way,  than  in  one  which  is  simply  to  stand  under  a 
glass  vase  and  be  looked  at.  We  are  but  grown 
children.  You  may  renounce  Market  street  at  thirty, 
and  build  your  elegant  mansion  and  adorn  it  with 
objects  of  luxury  and  taste,  but  unless  you  have  some 
employment  with  it,  you  will  soon  tire  of  looking  at 
the  beautiful  toy,  and  long  for  something  on  which 
your  powers  can  exert  themselves.  I  need  not  dwell 
upon  a  topic  which  will  recur  again ;  but  rely  upon 
it,  any  theory  of  life  must  be  wrong  which  disparages 

*  "  Every  one  knows  the  story  of  the  tallow-chandler,  who, 
having  amassed  a  fortune,  disposed  of  his  business,  and  taken 
a  house  in  the  country,  not  far  from  London,  that  he  might 
enjoy  himself,  after  a  few  months'  trial  of  a  holiday-life, 
requested  permission  of  his  successor,  to  come  into  town  and 
assist  him  on  melting  days.  I  have  heard  of  one  who  kept  a 
retail  spirit-shop,  and  having  in  like  manner  retired  from 
trade,  used  to  employ  himself  by  having  one  puncheon  filled 
with  water,  and  measuring  it  by  pints  into  another.  I  have 
also  heard  of  a  butcher  in  a  small  country-town,  who,  some 
little  time  after  he  had  left  off  business,  informed  his  old  cus 
tomers  that  he  meant  to  kill  a  lamb  once  a-week,  just  for  his 
amusement  1"  —  THE  DOCTOR. 


WHILST   WE   LIVE,    LET   US   LIVE.  123 

reputable  labour,  or  neglects  tlie  sources  of  present 
enjoyment  in  visionary  anticipations  of  future  good, 

"  All  earthly  comforts  vanish  thus  ; 

So  little  hold  of  them  have  we, 
That  we  from  them,  or  they  from  us, 

May  in  a  moment  ravished  be. 
Yet  we  are  neither  just  nor  wise, 
If  present  mercies  we  despise ; 
Or  mind  not  how  there  may  be  made 
A  thankful  use  of  what  we  have." 

The  future  is  not  ours ;  and  should  it  ever  become 
ours,  it  will  bring  its  own  cares  more  certainly  than 
its  own  pleasures.  What  we  are  concerned  with  is 
present  duty.  It  is  a  sad  and  foolish  mistake  to 
spend  life  in  getting  ready  to  live.  There  is  a  sense 
in  which  the  famous  Epicurean  apothegm,  "Dum 
vivimus  vivamus,"  "Whilst  we  live,  let  us  live,"  ex 
presses  a  wholesome  truth.  Dr.  Doddridge,  whose 
family  motto  it  was,  has  paraphrased  it  in  what  Dr. 
Johnson  justly  terms  "  one  of  the  finest  epigrams  in 
the  English  language." 

"Live  while  you  live,  the  Epicure  would  say, 
And  seize  the  pleasures  of  the  present  day. 
Live  while  you  live,  the  sacred  Preacher  cries, 
And  give  to  God  each  moment  as  it  flies. 
Lord,  in  my  views  let  both  united  be ; 
I  live  in  pleasure  while  I  live  to  thee." 

If  you  cultivate  this  spirit,  making  the  Bible  your 


124          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

daily  chart  and  text-book,  and  trusting  in  Christ  for 
pardon  while  you  walk  in  the  wray  of  his  precepts, 
you  will  neither  find  a  business-life  such  hopeless 
drudgery,  nor  be  impatient  of  the  day  when  you  are 
to  exchange  the  bondage  of  the  Counting-room  for 
an  Elysium  of  idleness. 

Nor  let  it  be  supposed  that  a  retirement  from  busi 
ness  will  necessarily  deaden  that  excessive  passion  for 
wealth,  which  has  been  rebuked  in  this  Lecture.  The 
Ethiopian  does  not  so  readily  change  his  skin,  nor 
the  leopard  his  spots.  The  covetousness  which  has 
ruled  a  man  through  all  the  activities  of  his  working 
days,  will  not  let  go  its  mastery  on  his  ceasing  to 
work.  It  may  assume  a  new  form.  The-  essential 
principle  or  core  of  avarice,  is  selfishness.  And  no 
man  need  bless  himself  that  he  is  a  stranger  to  the 
worship  of  Mammon,  who  is  spending  all  his  revenues 
in  self-indulgence.  "  His  hand,  like  a  channel,  may 
be  ever  open ;  and  because  his  income  may  be  per 
petually  flowing  through  it,  the  unreflecting  world, 
taken  with  appearances,  may  hold  him  up  as  a  pat 
tern  of  generosity ;  but  the  entire  current  is  absorbed 
by  his  own  selfishness.  That  others  are  indirectly 
benefited  by  his  profusion,  does  not  enter  into  his 
calculations ;  he  thinks  only  of  his  own  gratification. 
It  is  true,  his  mode  of  living  may  employ  others; 
but  he  is  the  idol  of  the  temple  —  they  are  only 


SELFISH  PROFUSION. 


125 


priests  in  his  service ;  and  the  prodigality  they  are 
empowered  to  indulge  in,  is  only  intended  to  decorate 
and  do  honour  to  his  altar.  To  maintain  an  exten 
sive  establishment,  to  carry  it  high  before  the  world, 
to  settle  his  children  respectably  in  life,  to  maintain 
a  system  of  costly  self-indulgence,  —  these  are  the 
objects  which  swallow  up  all  his  gains,  and  keep  him 
in  a  constant  fever  of  ill-concealed  anxiety;  filling 
his  heart  with  envy  and  covetousness  at  the  sight  of 
others'  prosperity ;  rendering  him  loath  to  part  with  a 
fraction  of  his  property  to  benevolent  purposes ;  and 
making  him  feel  as  if  every  farthing  of  his  money  so 
employed  were  a  diversion  of  that  farthing  from  the 
great  ends  of  life.  New  channels  of  benevolence  may 
open  around  him  in  all  directions ;  but  as  far  as  he 
is  concerned,  those  channels  must  remain  dry ;  for, 
like  the  sands  of  the  desert,  he  absorbs  all  the  bounty 
which  Heaven  rains  on  him,  and  still  craves  for  more. 
What  but  this  is  commonly  meant  by  the  expression 
concerning  such  a  man,  that  i  he  is  living  up  to  his 
income'  ?"* 

This  is  one  type  of  covetousness  among  the  men 
who  have  given  up  business.  Its  more  vulgar  form, 
that  of  hoarding,  is  no  less  familiar.  It  is  a  curious 
and  instructive  fact,  that  rich  men  are  usually  more 

*  Harris. 
11* 


126          THE    BIBLE    IN    THE    COUNTIXG-IIOUSE. 

disposed  to  hoard  after  relinquishing  business  than, 
before.  What  with  the  constant  handling  of  m'oney, 
the  ceaseless  barter  of  commerce,  and  the  excitement 
kept  up  in  a  career  of  trafficking,  their  hearts  have 
little  opportunity  to  get  steeled  against  all  generous 
impulses.  But  when  they  exchange  the  counting-room 
for  the  snug  domestic  office  or  the  library,  and  have 
nothing  to  do  but  receive  their  rents  and  interest  and 
dividends,  every  dollar  stands  out  in  its  own  import 
ance,  and  it  becomes  a  serious  matter  to  divert  this 
money  from  new  investments.  To  contribute  a  hun 
dred  dollars  to  a  charity,  would  be  to  "lose"  or 
"throw  away"  the  interest  on  more  than  sixteen 
hundred !  A  donation  of  a  thousand  dollars,  would 
swallow  up  the  interest  of  nearly  seventeen  thousand  ! 
If  they  had  less  leisure,  they  might  consent.  But  to 
look  such  "sacrifices"  deliberately  in  the  face,  and 
then  submit  to  them,  is  more  than  their  virtue  is 
equal  to.  This  revenue  too,  once  in  hand,  is  no 
longer,  in  their  view,  of  the  nature  of  interest ;  it 
belongs  to  their  principal ;  and  they  have  a  profound 
reverence  for  the  maxim  which  requires  a  man  to 
keep  his  principal  intact  under  all  circumstances. 
Thus  they  reason :  the  swelling  income  passes,  from 
one  six-months  to  another,  into  the  body  of  the 
estate :  and  the  love  of  money  grows  apace  with 
every  fresh  investment.  Most  other  vices  find  a 


AVARICE,    A    BAR   TO    HEAVEN.  127 

partial  corrective  in  the  gradual  decay  of  the  physical 
powers ;  but  avarice  is  proverbially  the  vice  of  old 
age,  and 

—  "  rarely  venturing  in  the  van  of  life, 
While  nobler  passions  wage  their  heated  strife, 
Comes  skulking  last,  with  Selfishness  and  Fear, 
And  dies  collecting  lumber  in  the  rear!" 

Worse  than  "lumber"  it  is  apt  to  prove  —  worse  for 
themselves  and  for  their  heirs.  For  what  can  be 
more  adverse  to  a  man's  spiritual  good,  more  unfa 
vourable  to  serious  thought,  more  hostile  to  all  ade 
quate  preparation  for  eternity,  than  to  sell  himself, 
as  he  is  growing  old,  to  Mammon  ?  Those  are  very 
solemn  words,  "  No  covetous  man,  who  is  an  idolater, 
hath  any  inheritance  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and 
of  God."  The  "covetous  shall  not  inherit  the  king 
dom  of  God."  How  is  it  possible  for  men  to  elude 
this  doom  who  are  basely  betraying  their  stewardship, 
and  making  it  the  chief  end  of  life  to  enlarge  an 
already  overgrown  fortune  ?  —  And,  then,  as  to  their 
children,  for  whose  "benefit"  they  are  denying  them 
selves  the  true  enjoyment  of  this  life  and  hazarding 
all  prospect  of  the  life  to  come,  what  is  more  common 
than  to  see  such  a  property  become  a  curse  to  its 
inheritors  ? 

But,  happily,  among  those  who  retire  from  business, 
there  are  men  who  have  no  affinity  with  either  of  the 


128         THE  BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

classes  that  have  been  mentioned.  They  are  among 
the  brightest  ornaments  of  our  social  state,  and 
•worthy  of  all  the  honour  which  is  so  uniformly 
accorded  to  them.  It  is  one  of  their  principles  that 
accumulation  has  its  moral  limits,  and  that  beyond 
these  (varying,  however,  with  men's  circumstances)  a 
fortune  ought  not  to  be  increased.  It  is  another 
principle  with  them,  that  wealth  has  its  duties  no  less 
than  its  privileges.  It  is  a  third  principle  with  them, 
that  in  managing  and  disposing  of  an  estate,  every 
man  is  bound  to  govern  himself  by  the  teachings  of 
the  BIBLE.  —  I  can  picture  to  myself  a  merchant, 
who,  having  relinquished  business  after  a  long  and 
honourable  career,  has  addressed  himself  to  the 
remaining  duties  of  his  stewardship,  under  the  gui 
dance  of  these  elevated  principles.  I  see  him  the 
tenant  of  a  stately  and  beautiful  mansion,  furnished 
in  a  manner  suitable  to  his  fortune  and  position.  I 
censure  not  the  works  of  art  I  find  there.  As  long 
as  Jubal's  skill  is  perpetuated  in  "  such  as  handle  the 
harp  and  the  organ,"  I  dare  not  proscribe  these 
instruments  of  music.  While  God  continues  to  raise 
up  Bezaleels  and  Aholiabs,  and  to  "  fill  them  with 
wisdom  and  knowledge  to  devise  cunning  works,  to 
work  in  gold,  and  in  silver,  and  in  brass,  and  in 
cutting  of  stones,  to  set  them,  and  in  carving  of 
timber,  to  work  in  all  manner  of  workmanship,"  I 


A    PORTRAIT.  129 

dare  not  say,  these  sculptures  and  paintings  and  por 
celains  and  mosaics  are  prohibited  indulgences,  and 
should  have  no  place  here.  Still  less  should  I  pre 
sume  to  ask,  Why  is  not  this  needless  conservatory 
sold,  and  the  proceeds  given  to  the  poor  ?  The  pro 
prietor  of  this  mansion  has,  in  my  view,  a  right  to 
indulge  himself  in  these  elegant  tastes :  and  it  is 
pleasant  to  meet  them,  combined  with  sterling  reli 
gious  principle  and  Christian  refinement.  If  this 
scene  defined  the  sum  of  his  being,  the  case  were 
different.  But  he  is  one  with  whom  these  studies 
and  objects  are  the  mere  fringe  and  ornament  of  life, 
not  its  end  or  substance.  Remembering  his  steward 
ship,  he  cares  not  to  augment  his  ample  estate.  No 
dollar  of  interest  with  him  ever  petrifies  into  principal. 
His  entire  income,  after  deducting  personal  and  house 
hold  expenses,  goes  to  promote  the  happiness  of  his 
fellow-creatures  and  the  prosperity  of  religion.  He 
exercises  a  sound  discrimination  in  his  benefactions. 
The  poor  have  in  him  a  liberal  and  judicious  friend. 
He  is  wont  to  aid  deserving  young  men  in  obtaining 
an  education.  He  secretly  assists  meritorious  fami 
lies  that  have  experienced  reverses.,  and  struggling 
individuals  whom  most  persons  would  pass  by  as  being 
too  well  off  to  be  entitled  to  help.  He  keeps  his  eye 
upon  the  progress  of  Christianity  at  home  and  abroad, 
and  a  munificent,  though  unostentatious,  benevolence 


130         THE   BIBLE  IN  THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

attests  his  cordial  interest  in  whatever  pertains  to  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  and  the  salvation  of  men.  And, 
to  his  other  offices  of  kindness,  he  superadds  such 
personal  services  as  it  may  be  in  his  power  to  render 
to  useful  public  institutions,  or  to  individuals  requiring 
counsel  or  succour. 

Men  of  this  sort  there  are  among  our  retired  mer 
chants.  You  will  not  be  long  in  forming  your  esti 
mate  of  them,  as  contrasted  either  with  those  who  are 
consuming  all  their  income  in  a  lavish  self-indulgence, 
or  with  their  compeers  whose  hoarding  propensities 
increase  with  their  gold  and  their  years.  Let  it  be 
your  care,  should  Providence  ever  place  you  among 
them,  to  shun  the  extremes  of  prodigality  and  penuri- 
ousness ;  to  dedicate  yourselves  and  your  property  to 
the  service  of  God  and  the  good  of  mankind ;  and  to 
illustrate  the  excellence  of  that  practical  godliness 
which  fits  men  to  enjoy  their  earthly  riches,  and 
secures  to  them  an  inalienable  portion  beyond  the 
grave. 


THE   SOUTH-SEA   COMPANY.  131 


Intnvf  /iftjj. 


SPECULATING. 

AN  impression  prevailed  in  England  a  century  and 
a  half  ago,  that  the  wealth  of  South  America  was 
inexhaustible.  This  led  to  the  chartering,  in  the 
year  1711,  of  the  famous  "  South-Sea  Company,"  on 
which  was  conferred  the  exclusive  right  of  trading 
with  that  country,  together  with  other  important 
privileges.  Visionary  as  were  the  professed  objects 
of  this  association,  the  most  extravagant  statements 
were  circulated  respecting  its  prospects.  The  man 
agers  declared  enormous  dividends  from  their  alleged 
profits,  and  by  this  and  other  means  not  unknown  in 
the  financial  world,  the  scheme  was  crowned  with 
unparalleled  success.  The  stock  rose  until  in  the 
year  1720,  it  was  eagerly  bought  at  1000  per  cent, 
premium.  As  the  natural  effect  of  this  gigantic 
experiment,  the  country  was  soon  filled  with  specu 
lating  projects  of  all  sorts.  Innumerable  joint-stock 
companies  started  up  everywhere.  Every  day  brought 


132          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUXTING-IIOUSE. 

its  fresh  "  bubble."  Some  of  these  were  of  so  pre 
posterous  a  character  that  their  titles  could  not  be 
recited  here  without  exciting  an  unbecoming  merri 
ment.  One  of  them  was  styled,  "A  company  for 
carrying  on  an  undertaking  of  great  advantage,  but 
nobody  to  know  what  it  is."  The  projector  of  this 
bold  appeal  to  the  public  credulity,  required  a  deposit 
of  £2  on  each  share  of  <£100  each,  and  engaged  to 
each  depositor  a  return  of  =£100  per  annum.  He 
opened  his  office,  and  the  first  day  received  subscrip 
tions  for  1000  shares,  with  the  requisite  deposit  of 
£2000.  With  this  sum,  he  quietly  withdrew  that 
evening  to  the  continent,  and  was  never  heard  of 
again.  This  well-authenticated  transaction  may  illus 
trate  the  mania  which  had  seized  upon  the  public 
mind.  "  From  morning  until  evening,  Change  Alley 
was  filled  to  overflowing  with  one  dense  moving  mass 
of  living  beings,  composed  of  the  most  incongruous 
materials,  and  in  all  things,  save  the  mad  pursuit 
wherein  they  were  employed,  utterly  opposed  in  their 
principles  and  feelings,  and  far  asunder  in  their  sta 
tions  in  life  and  the  professions  they  followed.  States 
men  and  clergymen  deserted  their  high  stations  to 
enter  upon  this  grand  theatre  of  speculation  and 
gambling ;  and  churchmen  and  dissenters  left  their 
fierce  disputes,  and  forgot  their  wranglings  upon 
church-government,  in  the  deep  and  hazardous  game 


A   COMMUNITY   CRAZED.  133 

they  were  playing  for  worldly  treasures,  and  for 
riches  which,  even  if  won,  were  liable  to  disappear 
within  the  hour  of  their  creation.  Whigs  and  tories 
buried  their  weapons  of  political  warfare,  discarded 
party  animosities,  and  mingled  together  in  kind  and 
friendly  intercourse,  each  exulting  as  their  stocks 
advanced  in  price,  and  murmuring  dissatisfaction  and 
disappointment  when  fortune  frowned  upon  their  wild 
operations ;  and  lawyers,  physicians,  merchants,  and 
tradesmen,  forsook  their  employments,  neglected  their 
business,  and  disregarded  their  engagements,  to  whirl 
giddily  along  with  the  swollen  stream,  to  be  at  last 
engulphed  in  the  wide  sea  of  bankruptcy.  Men  of 
the  highest  rank  were  deeply  engaged  in  stock-jobbing 
transactions ;  and  investments  in  the  most  worthless 
bubbles  of  the  age  were  made  by  them  in  heavy 
sums,  and  without  the  least  hesitation  or  previous 
inquiry.  Females  mixed  with  the  crowd;  and  for 
getting  the  stations  and  employments  which  nature 
had  fitted  them  to  adorn,  dealt  boldly  and  extensively 
in  the  bubbles  that  rose  before  them,  and  like  those 
by  whom  they  were  surrounded,  rose  from  poverty  to 
wealth,  and  from  that  were  thrust  down  to  beggary 
and  want  —  and  all  in  one  short  week,  and  perhaps 
before  the  evening  which  terminated  the  first  day  of 
their  speculations.  Ladies  of  high  rank,  regardless 
of  every  appearance  of  dignity,  and  blinded  by  the 
12 


134          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

prevailing  infatuation,  drove  to  the  shops  of  their 
milliners  and  haberdashers,  and  there  met  stock 
brokers  whom  they  regularly  employed,  and  through 
whom  extensive  sales  were  daily  negotiated.  In  the 
midst  of  the  excitement,  all  distinctions  of  party  and 
religion,  circumstances  and  character,  were  swallowed 
up.  Bubbles  were  blown  into  existence  on  every 
hand,  and  stocks  of  every  conceivable  name,  nature, 
and  description,  were  issued  to  an  incredible  extent."* 

It  is  superfluous  to  add,  that  by  and  by  the  crash 
came  —  a  crash  which  shook  the  land  like  an  earth 
quake.  Some  of  the  leaders  of  the  South-Sea  scheme 
fled  the  country,  and  others  were  thrown  into  prison : 
while  tens  of  thousands  of  people  sat  them  down  in 
their  poverty,  to  bemoan  the  quick  and  terrible  retri 
bution  their  folly  had  brought  upon  them. 

This  is  a  cursory  glimpse  of  a  nation  bewildered 
with  a  spirit  of  SPECULATION.  It  is  not,  unfortu 
nately,  so  remote  from  our  own  experience,  that  we 
shall  find  any  difficulty  in  appreciating  it.  Similar 
crises  occur  at  irregular  intervals  in  the  history  of 
every  commercial  nation;  and  the  mercantile  men 
who  listen  to  these  Lectures,  can  recall  a  period  when 
our  own  land  reeled  and  staggered  under  one  of  these 
catastrophes,  as  if  struck  by  the  hand  of  Omnipotence. 

*  Hunt's  Merchant's  Magazine. 


A   FINANCIAL   CRISIS.  135 

You  have  seen  the  whole  process  from  beginning  to 
end.  A  superfluity  of  capital  —  facile  credits  —  in 
flated  prices  —  all  classes  maddened  with  the  lust  of 
money  —  Mammon  put  in  the  place  of  God  —  new 
projects  for  sudden  wealth  broached  every  day  —  new 
banks,  new  land-companies,  new  railroads,  new  cities, 
new  joint-stock  associations  of  all  sorts  —  over-trading 

—  shrewd  and  successful  operations  —  trust-funds  in 
vested  in  bubbles  —  banks  covertly  trafficking  at  the 
stock-board  —  fortunes  made  without  time  or  trouble 

—  splendid   mansions,    equipages,  entertainments  — 
bubbles  bursting — banks  breaking — merchants  break 
ing  —  stagnation  in  the  streets  —  silence  among  the 
spindles  —  ships  rotting  at  the  wharves  —  defalcations 
- — forged  certificates  of  stock  —  debtors  absconding — 
States  repudiating  —  sheriff's  sales  —  crowded  alms- 
houses  —  interminable  dockets  —  impoverished  widows 

—  impoverished  orphans  —  general  despondency  and 
wo !     Such  are  the  ensigns  of  one  of  these  crises, 
which  meet  the  eye :  they  have  blacker  shades,  and 
more  fearful  results,  which  need  not  be  indicated. 
Those  who  have  seen  for  themselves,  as  you  have, 
will  require  no  daguerreotype  sketch :  the  least  out 
line  will  recall  the  whole. 

And  now,  if  I  undertake  to  found  upon  facts  like 
these,  a  remonstrance  against  unbridled  speculation, 
you  may  try  to  parry  it  by  reminding  me  that  "  all 


136          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

business  is  a  speculation,  so  that  you  must  either 
speculate  or  give  up  business  altogether."  This  is 
not  candid.  There  is  no  merchant  here  who  does 
not  know  the  difference  between  the  usual  workings 
of  a  speculating  mania  and  the  sober  methods  of 
legitimate  commerce.  Every  one  who  is  capable  of 
moral  distinctions,  must  perceive,  that  while  these 
seasons  of  redundance  and  inflation  last,  wealth  is 
taken  out  of  its  proper  place,  and  invested  with 
adventitious  and  illusive  qualities.  Men  come  insen 
sibly  to  regard  it  as  the  chief  good  —  as  indispensable 
to  the  true  enjoyment  of  life.  It  takes  precedence 
with  them  of  mental  culture,  social  happiness,  and 
even  moral  excellence.  They  will  sacrifice  to  it  com 
fort,  health,  books,  domestic  affection,  and  the  very 
ordinances  of  religion.  They  hear  more  talk  of 
money  and  fortunes  than  of  all  other  topics  together. 
The  crowds  that  rush  by  them  on  the  side-walks  are 
fierce  after  money.  They  listen  to  the  plaudits 
bestowed  upon  successful  operators.  They  find  that 
the  world  sets  a  much  higher  value  upon  wealth  than 
upon  merit.  And  they  become  possessed  with  the 
feeling,  that  whatever  may  be  neglected,  it  will  never 
do  to  incur  the  indignity  of  not  being  rich. 

Of  course  in  this  eager  race  after  wealth,  there 
can  be  no  proper  recognition  of  an  overruling  Provi 
dence.  There  is  the  greatest  possible  incongruity 


PRACTICAL   ATHEISM.  137 

between  the  reigning  spirit  at  one  of  these  periods, 
and  that  cordial,  implicit,  cheerful  reliance  upon  God, 
which  the  Bible  bids  us  cherish  no  less  in  all  our 
secularities  than  in  our  spiritual  services.  The  apostle 
has  remonstrated  with  them  on  this  point.  "  Go  to 
now,  ye  that  say,  i  To-day  or  to-morrow  we  will  go 
into  such  a  city,  and  continue  there  a  year,  and  buy, 
and  sell,  and  get  gain' :  whereas,  ye  know  not  what 
shall  be  on  the  morrow.  For  what  is  your  life  ?  It 
is  even  a  vapour  that  appeareth  for  a  little  time  and 
then  vanisheth  away.  For  that  ye  ought  to  say,  c  If 
the  Lord  will,  we  shall  live  and  do  this  or  that.'  But 
now  ye  rejoice  in  your  boastings :  all  such  rejoicing 
is  evil."  The  temper  of  mind  here  inculcated,  every 
consideration  of  modesty,  of  piety,  and  even  of  self- 
interest,  bids  us  cherish:  for  how  absolute  is  our 
dependence  upon  God ;  and  what  will  all  our  tact 
and  energy  avail,  without  his  blessing?  But  who 
among  the  hosts  of  speculators,  thinks  of  God  in 
framing  his  plans,  or  seeks  his  help  in  prosecuting 
them  ?  Who  would  presume  to  invoke  his  aid  in 
consummating  schemes  of  which  He  has  said,  "He  that 
maketh  haste  to  be  rich  shall  not  be  innocent."  "  Ye 
cannot  serve  God  and  mammon."  It  is  not  the  least 
of  the  multitudinous  evils  bound  up  in  these  seasons 
of  excitement,  that  they  turn  men  into  practical 
Atheists.  They  at  least  have  the  decency  to  abstain 
12* 


138          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

from  a  pretended  reliance  upon  God,  when  their  real 
feeling  is  that  every  thing  depends,  not  upon  his 
favour,  but  upon  their  own  activity  and  skill  in  cal 
culating  chances  and  taking  advantage  of  circum 
stances. 

The  antagonism  of  this  passion  to  the  genuine 
mercantile  spirit  has  been  adverted  to.  The  end  of 
honourable  commerce  is  to  exchange  equivalents  for 
mutual  advantage.  Speculation  (using  the  term  in 
its  technical  sense)  looks  only  to  its  own  good.  Like 
a  rapacious  military  chieftain,  it  aims  at  self-aggran 
dizement  ;  and  this  object  it  pursues,  reckless  of  the 
consequences  to  others.  In  the  view  of  a  confirmed 
speculator,  the  aggregate  property  of  a  community  is 
but  the  stake  in  a  game  of  chance;  the  people  at 
large  are  the  players ;  and  each  man  is  to  get  what 
he  can,  without  caring,  or  even  asking,  who  loses. 
Such  a  man  must  necessarily  regard  every  one  around 
him  with  a  jealous  eye,  especially  those  in  his  own 
profession.  They  are  not  to  him  associates  and  hon 
ourable  competitors,  whose  generous  rivalry  is  to 
stimulate  their  mutual  sagacity  and  enterprise :  they 
are  his  opposers,  almost  his  enemies.  What  they 
gain,  he  loses ;  and  he  must  lay  his  plans  so  as  to 
make  them  lose,  that  he  may  pocket  their  losses.  If 
an  extreme  type  of  his  class,  he  will  not  confine  his 
hostile  demonstrations  to  his  fellow-traders  or  co- 


AN   ISIIMAELITE.  139 

financiers.  Like  Ishmael,  his  hand  is  against  every 
man ;  and,  worse  than  Ishmael,  even  against  those 
whose  hand  is  not  against  him.  He  would  as  soon 
speculate  upon  the  property  of  the  widow  and  the 
orphan,  as  upon  any  other.  It  is  not  a  question  with 
him  in  arranging  his  projects,  "  How  will  this  affect 
the  interests  of  others?"  He  does  not,  except  on 
selfish  grounds,  even  take  the  trouble  to  inquire  whose 
interests  his  manoeuvres  are  likely  to  damage.  His 
motto  is,  "Each  one  for  himself;"  and  if  in  carrying 
out  this  very  honourable  and  humane  principle,  he 
happens  to  ruin  a  few  families  of  females  and  children, 
he  comforts  himself  with  the  reflection,  that  "  he  was 
not  aiming  at  their  ruin,  but  only  at  his  own  advan 
tage  ;  and  that  if  they  have  lost  their  property,  it  is 
an  incidental  evil,  for  which  their  guardians  are 
responsible,  not  himself." 

The  base  sophistry  taught  in  this  school,  is  in 
keeping  with  its  hardening  effect  upon  the  sensibilities 
of  men.  There  are  few  more  loathsome  characters 
in  society,  than  the  shrewd,  cold-blooded  operator, 
who  will  speculate  the  fortune  of  an  innocent  family 
out  of  their  possession  into  his  own,  and  then  have 
the  audacity  to  attempt  to  soothe  the  victims  of  his 
villany  by  telling  them  that  it  was  a  "  fair  business- 
transaction."  This  is  as  though  a  highwayman  should 
plunge  his  knife  into  you,  and  console  you,  while  you 


140          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTIXG-HOUSE. 

were  bleeding  to  death,  by  telling  you  that  he  had  sev 
ered  the  arteries  scientifically.  The  sort  of  operations 
in  question  may  be  styled  "  fair  business-transations," 
but  it  can  only  be  in  deference  to  that  flagitious  code 
of  morals  already  spoken  of  as  having  supplanted,  in 
some  business-circles,  the  law  of  God.  Tried  by  the 
Scriptural  standard  of  morality,  there  is  nothing 
"fair"  about  them.  That  standard  forbids  covetous- 
ness;  it  prohibits  the  injuring  of  the  property  of 
others ;  it  requires  us  to  do  as  we  would  be  done  by. 
In  each  of  these  points,  the  speculator  has  contravened 
it.  Possibly  he  has  infringed  no  human  law.  But 
that  must  be  a  very  lax  integrity,  which  has  no  higher 
standard  of  right  and  wrong  than  the  statute-book : 
for  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  daily  dishonesties 
of  trade  and  finance,  are  too  subtle  to  be  caught  by 
the  meshes  of  any  human  legislation.  And  of  what 
force  can  it  be  to  allege  that  the  sort  of  transactions 
he  has  been  engaged  in,  are  current  in  the  business- 
world,  and  have  the  sanction  of  "men  of  character"  ? 
"Men  of  character"  will  sometimes  do  very  strange 
things  ;  and  questions  of  morals  are  not  to  be  decided 
by  a  show  of  hands.  There  is  another  tribunal  by 
which  these  cases  are  to  be  adjudicated.  Let  the 
parties  implicated  consider,  whether  the  paltry  pleas 
by  which  they  would  gloss  over  their  avarice  and 
oppression,  will  avail  them  there. 


ROBBERY   AND    CHARITY.  141 

The  confidence  with  which  the  confirmed  speculator 
adduces  arguments  of  this  kind,  shows  how  callous 
his  master-passion  has  made  him  to  the  claims  of 
justice  and  humanity.  And  yet,  inconsistent  as  it 
may  seem,  this  same  man  may  be  found  in  private 
quite  accessible  to  the  appeals  of  misery.  It  is  in 
his  business  that  he  is  so  unfeeling.  Convinced  by  a 
vicious  sophistry  that  his  schemes  are  no  more  repre 
hensible  than  a  staid  and  prudent  traffic,  he  will  strip 
a  neighbour  of  his  property  by  a  few  dexterous  oper 
ations,  without  seeming  to  know  that  he  is  violating 
the  plainest  principles  of  integrity  —  that  correspon 
ding  conduct  in  a  prince,  would  make  him  a  tyrant, 
and  in  a  peasant,  would  make  him  a  robber.  And 
of  the  very  fruits  of  this  grasping  covetousness,  he 
will  perhaps  contribute  to  works  of  charity,  while  his 
bosom  knows  nothing  beyond  a  transient  feeling  of 
regret  for  the  individuals  he  has  ruined.  This,  how 
ever,  is  really  in  keeping  with  his  character.  Pro 
fessed  gamblers  are  proverbially  prodigal  in  dispen 
sing  their  funds,  though  they  are  dead  to  the  suffer 
ings  of  their  victims.  The  spirit  of  speculation  is  one 
type  of  the  gambling-spirit.  Like  that,  it  grasps  at 
sudden  wealth ;  it  aims  to  secure  it,  not  by  industry 
and  legitimate  traffic,  but  by  sleight  of  hand ;  and  it 
is  indifferent  as  to  who  suffers,  or  to  what  extent,  by 
its  acquisitions.  It  is  no  strange  thing,  then,  that  it 


142          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

should  also  display  a  similar  profusion  in  disposing 
of  its  gains. 

It  is  too  apparent  to  require  argument,  that 
wherever  this  spirit  enters  the  walks  of  trade,  it 
must  tend  to  degrade  commerce  to  a  system  of 
shuffling  and  trickery.  All  traffic  carries  with  it 
some  degree  of  insecurity.  And  yet  the  established 
laws  of  trade  are  on  the  whole  so  uniform  in  their 
operation,  that  where  a  community  faithfully  adhere 
to  them,  the  hazards  of  business  are  comparatively 
small.  Every  intelligent  merchant  understands  its 
chief  contingencies ;  and  if  he  takes  these  into  the 
account  in  making  his  contracts,  he  will  not  ordinarily 
encounter  any  great  losses.  But  impregnate  this 
same  community  with  the  delirium  of  speculation,  and 
it  is  like  withdrawing  the  balance-wheel  from  a  mas 
sive  piece  of  machinery.  Its  movements,  before  har 
monious  and  regular,  become  spasmodic  and  untrac- 
table,  until  in  the  end  it  may  destroy  itself  and  every 
thing  within  its  reach.  A  people  in  this  condition 
have  lost  their  regulator.  Their  mutual  confidence, 
the  foundation  of  all  healthful  traffic,  is  supplanted 
by  general  suspicion  and  distrust.  The  unprincipled 
and  the  indiscreet  plunge  into  one  extravagant  scheme 
after  another ;  and  thoughtful  men  prepare,  as  they 
may,  for  the  fearful  collapse  which  is  so  certain  to 
follow  one  of  these  violent  paroxysms. 


SANCTITY  OF  TRUSTS.  143 

The  temptation  with  which  merchants  are  beset  in 
times  like  this  (aside  from  over-trading),  is,  to  engraft 
speculative  projects  upon  their  stated  business.  It 
would  be  going  too  far,  to  say  that  this  ought  never 
to  be  done.  There  are  houses  which  have  so  ample 
a  capital,  that  they  can,  without  imprudence,  employ 
a  part  of  their  means  in  judicious  enterprises,  collat 
eral  to  their  main  business.  But  as  a  general  rule, 
it  is  unwise  and  even  unwarrantable — unwise,  because 
the  issue  must  in  every  case  be  doubtful,  and,  in  any 
event,  the  practice  fosters  an  evil  habit  of  mind: 
unwarrantable,  because  it  is  unjust  to  creditors.  It 
is  a  very  specious  bait  which  Satan  throws  in  your 
way,  when  he  invites  you  to  put  a  few  thousand 
dollars  temporarily  into  some  brilliant  project,  which 
is  "certain  to  succeed"  —  when  he  whispers  in  your 
ear,  "  Why  not  accept  the  boon  that  Providence  offers 
you,  and  make  more  money  in  a  month  than  your 
broadcloths  and  muslins  will  bring  you  in  years  ? 
Why  surrender  all  these  golden  opportunities  to  your 
neighbours  who  are  rapidly  getting  rich  by  them?" — 
But  consider,  have  you  a  right  to  do  this  ?  You  may 
purpose  to  use  for  it,  instead  of  your  own  capital, 
certain  trust-funds  in  your  hands,  which  will  not 
impair  your  mercantile  resources.  But  whence  do 
you  derive  your  authority  ?  Unless  the  terms  of  the 
trust  clearly  convey  this  power,  you  have  no  right  to 


144         THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

touch  those  funds.  They  are  not  yours.  You  can 
not  borrow  them.  You  have  bound  yourself  legally 
and  morally,  in  accepting  the  trust,  to  hold  them 
exclusively  for  certain  specified  objects.  You  could 
not  take  them  even  to  keep  yourself  from  breaking. 
You  could  not  take  them  to  supply  your  family  with 
bread.  Much  less  can  you  use  them  for  a  single  day 
to  carry  on  a  speculation.  It  is  a  most  dangerous 
thing  to  invade  the  sanctity  of  a  trust.  The  man 
who  does  it,  although  from  no  unworthy  motives  and 
with  the  full  intention  of  replacing  soon  the  means  he 
"borrows,"  has  weakened  his  own  sense  of  obligation 
and  put  his  integrity  in  imminent  jeopardy.  He  may 
even  have  in  view  the  good  of  the  party  whose  trustee 
he  is,  but  if  he  acts  without  warrant,  this  will  not 
exculpate  him.  "  To  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice, 
and  to  hearken,  than  the  fat  of  rams."  Our  courts 
and  those  of  England  are  justly  rigorous  in  enforcing 
fidelity  to  trusts.  And  notwithstanding  this,  the  in 
experienced  and  the  helpless  are  continually  falling 
a  prey  to  recklessness  or  cupidity  on  the  part  of  their 
financial  guardians.  Times  of  speculation  especially 
make  sad  havoc  with  the  consciences  of  trustees. 
Thousands  of  widows  and  children  have  had  reason 
to  mourn  these  disastrous  seasons,  so  fatal  to  the 
virtue  or  the  prudence  of  the  custodians  of  their 
little  property. 


COLLATERAL  SPECULATIONS.         145 

But  irrespective  of  trust-funds,  a  merchant,  I  have 
said,  is  not  authorized,  in  ordinary  circumstances,  to 
employ  his  capital  or  credit  in  speculations  aside  from 
his  proper  business.  The  reason  is,  because  this  was 
not  contemplated  by  his  creditors  in  their  transactions 
with  him,  and  it  would  be  unjust  to  them.  They 
loaned  him  money,  or  sold  him  goods,  with  the  clear 
understanding  that  he  was  to  confine  himself  to 
the  business  he  was  engaged  in.  They  knew  the 
usual  risks  of  trade,  and  were  willing  to  trust  him. 
Had  he  said  to  them,  "  I  intend  also  to  speculate 
in  stocks,"  they  might  or  might  not  have  trusted 
him:  —  (somewhat  remarkable  men  if  they  had.) 
In  any  event,  they  would  have  acted  with  their  eyes 
open.  But  now  that  he  has  their  property  in  his 
hands,  he  has  no  right  to  subject  it  to  hazards  which 
they  never  sanctioned.  If  you  add  a  new  flue  to 
your  store  without  notifying  your  insurers,  it  absolves 
them  from  all  responsibility  in  case  of  loss.  You  are 
violating  the  same  principle,  and  on  a  much  broader 
scale,  when  you  secretly  embark  in  these  foreign 
speculations.  You  are  augmenting  the  risks  of  your 
creditors  manifoldly,  without  increasing  your  premium. 
The  original  contract  is  vitiated  by  the  introduction 
of  a  new  element ;  and  they  might  justly  complain 
of  you  as  deceivers  and  covenant-breakers.  You  cer 
tainly  will  not  attempt  to  vindicate  this  conduct  by 
13 


146          THE    BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

the  morality  of  the  Bible :  the  very  least  of  your 
children,  if  old  enough  to  grasp  the  terms  of  the 
statement,  would  tell  you  that  you  had  done  wrong. 

And  morality  aside,  this  is  madness  for  a  firm,  even 
on  the  score  of  policy.  A  habit  of  this  sort  is  pretty 
certain  to  become  known ;  and  this  will  give  the  death 
blow  to  the  credit  of  any  house  of  limited  means.  Banks 
and  importers  will  not  trust  a  house  which  is  known 
to  be  dabbling  in  stocks  or  other  "  extra-hazardous" 
commodities.  A  year  or  two  since,  one  of  the  part 
ners  in  a  wealthy  New-York  firm  lost  a  large  sum  of 
money  at  a  watering-place  by  gambling.  The  news 
papers  reported  the  occurrence,  and  the  firm  was  soon 
dissolved.  This  was  their  only  alternative.  Who 
would  trust  them,  after  it  was  known  that  they  had 
a  confirmed  gambler  among  them  ?  The  same  prin 
ciple  applies  in  the  other  case.  Credit  and  responsi 
bility  are  correlative  terms.  Where  there  is  no  pre 
sumed  responsibility,  there  will  be  no  credit.  And 
the  responsibility  of  a  mercantile  house,  whose  posi 
tion  is  such  that  the  daily  bulletins  of  the  Board  of 
Brokers  are  of  more  interest  to  it  than  the  "Price- 
Current,"  is  like  one  of  the  unknown  quantities  in  an 
algebraic  formula.  Such  a  house  has  no  moral  right 
to  borrow  money  for  pretended  commercial  purposes, 
and  apply  it  to  the  purchase  of  fresh  scrip  or  to  the 
liquidation  of  its  losses  on  previous  speculations.  This 


LIABILITIES    OF   COPARTNERS.  147 

is  practically  conceded  by  the  very  men  who  are 
guilty  of  it.  It  is  consciousness  of  wrong-doing  which 
makes  them  conceal  these  things  from  their  creditors : 
for  they  well  know  that  on  giving  the  least  hint  of 
them,  the  loans  now  so  generously  granted,  would  be 
as  peremptorily  refused. 

It  might  abate  the  ardour  of  those  financiers  who 
are  so  eager  to  entice  merchants  (or  their  capital)  into 
the  Stock  Exchange,  to  consider,  that  if  a  member 
of  a  firm  embarks  in  these  speculations  without  the 
knowledge  of  his  partners,  the  firm  is  not  bound  by 
his  engagements.  "  The  legal  authority  of  the  part 
ners"  (I  use  the  language  of  one  of  the  first  commer^ 
cial  lawyers  in  the  United  States*)  "  takes  its  form 
and  shape  from  the  ordinary  scope  and  objects  of  the 
partnership-business,  and  is  limited  to  their  contracts ; 
and  acts  done  by  each  copartner  in  the  ordinary  or 
fair  prosecution  of  the  ostensible  business  of  the  firm, 
are  obligatory  on  it ;  beyond  this,  they  are  not  bind 
ing  on  the  partnership ;  they  are  unauthorized,  and 
can  only  be  made  to  affect  the  copartnership  by  show 
ing  the  actual  consent  of  all  its  members.  Thus,  a 
house  dealing  in  dry  goods,  would  not  ordinarily  be 
bound  by  the  purchase,  by  one  of  its  partners,  of  a 
ship,  unless  the  purchase  were  sanctioned  by  his  co- 

*  Daniel  Lord,  Jun.,  Esquire,  of  New  York. 


148          THE    ETBLE    IX   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

partners.  So,  a  house  running  a  line  of  packets  to 
another  port,  would  not  ordinarily  be  bound  by  a  pur 
chase  of  hardware  by  one  of  its  partners.  A  house 
dealing  in  hardware  would  not  be  bound  by  a  pur 
chase  of  dry  goods,  nor  would  any  mercantile  firm  be 
charged  with  stock-speculations.  —  The  principle  is, 
that  by  openly  pursuing  a  specific  kind  of  business, 
the  copartnership  limits  are  announced,  and  the  co 
partners  are  not  to  be  deemed  authorized  to  transact 
other  kinds  on  the  credit  of  their  firm.  The  common 
purpose  of  the  union  being  specific,  the  acts  and  con 
duct  of  the  parties  having  reference  to  this  purpose, 
must  conform  to  the  contemplation  of  the  parties ; 
nor  have  the  public  reason  to  hold  it  otherwise." 

The  speculating  eras  of  which  we  have  been  speak 
ing,  are  so  associated  in  the  public  mind  with  BANKS, 
that  it  may  be  proper  to  make  a  few  observations  at 
this  point  on  the  management  of  those  institutions. 
Their  vital  connection  with  the  general  prosperity  of 
nations,  must  be  too  apparent  to  admit  of  argument. 
The  State  has  delegated  to  them  one  of  its  highest 
prerogatives,  that  of  creating  a  currency.  The  course 
of  events  has  made  them  not  simply  conveniences,  but 
indispensable  implements  to  the  prosecution  of  com 
merce.  Politicians  may  find  it  useful  to  decry  the 
entire  policy,  but  no  man  whose  character  and  expe 
rience  are  such  as  to  entitle  his  opinions  to  respect, 


BANKS,  149 

would  think  it  expedient  to  annihilate  the  present 
banking  system  of  the  world.  Then,  again,  the  extent 
of  its  operations  shows  how  closely  it  is  identified 
with  all  the  substantive  interests  of  commerce.  The 
transactions  of  the  fourteen  banks  in  this  city,  amount, 
on  the  lowest  estimate,  to  five  hundred  millions  of 
dollars  per  annum,  and  may  reach  twice  that  sum. 
It  will  be  seen  at  once,  when  the  number  of  banks  in 
the  United  States  is  taken  into  the  account,  that 
every  citizen,  however  secluded  his  situation,  has  a 
stake  in  the  proper  management  of  this  colossal 
enginery.  That  there  is  much  misconception  abroad 
respecting  the  legitimate  functions  of  these  corpora 
tions  ;  that  they  are  often  expected  to  perform  offices 
which  have  not  been  confided  to  them ;  that  the  jeal 
ousies  and  prejudices  directed  against  them  are  fre 
quently  the  fruit  of  private  spleen  or  political  craft — 
are  points  which  do  not  admit  of  a  question ;  but  it 
is  not  my  province  to  discuss  them.  There  are  things 
which  the  moralist  may  insist  upon.  And  one  of  these, 
is,  that  the  directors  of  a  bank  or  other  corporate 
institution,  are  obviously  bound  to  be  faithful  to  their 
trust. 

This  seems  a  mere  truism.     But  there  is  a  preva 
lent  impression  that  as  a  practical  matter,  it  is  greatly 
neglected.     It  is  alleged,  that  gentlemen  are  in  the 
habit  of  seeking  a  place  in  the  Direction  of  these 
13* 


150          THE    BIBLE   IN    THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

institutions,  whose  qualifications  are  quite  apocryphal, 
and  whose  aims  are  purely  personal.  It  is  further 
alleged,  that  many  gentlemen  holding  these  situations, 
take  no  pains  to  keep  themselves  informed  of  the 
actual  state  of  the  business  entrusted  to  them ;  that 
they  remit  the  whole  control  of  things  to  the  executive 
officers,  with,  perhaps,  one  or  two  of  their  own  num 
ber  ;  and  that  thus  they  are  directors  who  direct 
nothing,  or,  as  we  say  in  the  church  of  a  certain 
class  of  the  clergy,  "ministers  without  charge." 
If  these  things  are  so,  the  parties  implicated  may 
well  be  admonished  of  their  error.  They  are  the 
administrators  of  a  Trust.  They  have  engaged  to 
administer  it  wisely  and  faithfully,  according  to  their 
ability.  They  stand  before  the  stock-holders  and 
before  the  public,  as  the  guardians  and  sponsors  of 
important  vested  rights.  Their  names  inspire  confi 
dence  in  the  trust,  and  invite  operations  based  upon 
its  presumed  security.  This  responsibility  cannot  be 
transferred.  They  have  no  moral  right,  as  they  have 
no  legal  authority,  to  perform  their  duties  by  vicar. 
If  they  are  not  competent,  or  if  they  have  not  the 
time,  to  attend  to  these  duties,  let  them  resign. 
While  they  retain  the  office,  they  will  be  held  accoun 
table  for  diligence  and  fidelity  in  meeting  its  requisi 
tions.  This  does  not  imply  that  they  are  to  usurp 
the  functions  of  presidents,  cashiers,  and  secretaries. 


DUTIES    OF    DIRECTORS.  151 

Still  less  does  it  exact  of  them  such  a  supervision  as 
shall  preclude  all  possible  fraud  and  forgery  on  the 
part  of  unprincipled  officials.  No  human  sagacity 
can  countenvork  villany  in  all  cases.  But  it  does 
import  that  they  shall  know  what  their  institution  is 
doing,  how  its  funds  are  employed,  and  whether  it  is 
honestly  carrying  out  the  ends  contemplated  in  its 
charter.  A  little  more  fidelity  on  the  part  of  Boards 
of  Direction,  would  have  prevented  some  of  the 
worst  financial  "explosions"  which  have  disgraced 
the  country. 

Another  principle  (just  hinted  at)  which  a  teacher 
of  morals  may  insist  upon,  is,  that  these  institutions 
shall  confine  themselves  to  the  objects  for  which  they 
were  chartered,  and  prosecute  these  with  integrity, 
prudence,  and  impartiality.  This  they  have  agreed 
to  do  in  accepting  their  charters ;  and  it  is  an  immo 
rality,  more  or  less  marked,  if  they  come  short  of  it. 
Various  questions  might  arise  here,  on  which  casuists, 
no  less  than  financiers,  would  differ.  Declining  all 

o 

debateable  topics,  it  is  evident  that  a  corporation  may 
contravene  the  spirit,  if  not  the  letter,  of  its  charter, 
by  wielding  its  power  for  political  purposes.  It  is  a 
supposable  case,  for  example,  that  the  railroad  com 
panies  of  a  State  might  combine  to  effect  a  revolution 
in  its  politics :  or  that  a  bank  might  employ  its  funds 
in  promoting  the  election  of  particular  candidates  to 


152          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

public  offices.  This  would  be  a  breach  of  trust :  their 
charters  were  given  for  no  such  purposes  as  these. — 
Equally  apparent  is  it,  that  an  institution  which  loans 
its  money  at  a  usurious  interest,  is  guilty  of  an  immo 
rality.  Of  the  expediency  of  the  usury  laws,  I  am 
not  called  upon  to  speak.  While  they  exist,  all  cor 
porations  are  bound  to  respect  them  —  bound,  not 
simply  by  the  obligation  which  rests  upon  private 
citizens,  but  by  a  specific  compact  which  they  have 
entered  into  with  the  Commonwealth,  and  the  viola 
tion  of  which,  directly  or  indirectly,  is  a  crime  against 
society. 

There  is  an  opinion  somewhat  prevalent,  that  banks 
ought  to  confine  their  loans  to  "business-men,"  and 
that,  among  these,  they  should  rarely  lend  money  to 
their  own  directors.  We  may  dissent  from  this  doc 
trine  in  both  its  parts,  without  sanctioning  the  acknow 
ledged  abuses  from  which  it  has  sprung.  The  busi 
ness-men  of  a  community  may  in  general  be  allowed 
a  precedence  in  the  way  of  bank-accommodation,  but 
there  seems  no  reason,  in  the  nature  of  things,  why 
all  other  classes  should  be  excluded.  If  a  physician 
requires  a  loan  for  the  purchase  of  a  horse,  or  a  law 
yer  in  buying  a  library,  why  should  they  be  denied  ? 
And  if  a  merchant  becomes  a  bank-director,  possibly 
at  a  sacrifice  of  his  personal  convenience,  why  should 
this  circumstance  deprive  him  of  the  aid  the  bank  has 


PERVERTED   INSTITUTIONS.  153 

been  in  the  habit  of  according  to  him  ?  But  there 
are  —  at  least  there  have  been  in  former  times  — 
usages  which  are  justly  to  be  reprobated.  In  the 
annals  of  American  finance,  examples  are  not  want 
ing  of  institutions  which  have  employed  their  entire 
resources  in  illegitimate  schemes.  The  capital  which 
should  have  gone  to  the  promotion  of  commerce,  has 
gone  into  the  hands  of  favourites,  to  be  used  in  specu 
lation,  or  in  building  up  a  few  houses  at  the  expense 
of  their  neighbours.  Notes  which  have  been  refused 
at  their  counters,  have  been  "  done"  with  the  identical 
means  elsewhere  and  at  usurious  rates.  Merchants 
who  had  an  equitable  claim  upon  their  help,  have 
been  left  to  "make  or  break"  as  they  might,  while 
the  funds  they  should  have  received,  have  been  se 
cretly  used  to  carry  on  some  magnificent  operations 
on  private  account.  What  commerce  has  lost,  the 
stock-exchange  has  gained.  And  however  it  may 
have  fared  with  the  plodding  traffickers,  the  specu 
lators  have  had  no  cause  to  complain. 

It  is  pleasant  to  think  that  in  so  far  as  our  own 
city  is  concerned,  institutions  of  this  sort,  if  they  ever 
had  a  place  amongst  us,  belong  to  the  province  of  the 
historian  ;*  and  that  if  one  of  them  should  re-appear 

*  This  opinion  has  been  called  in  question.  If  it  be  erro 
neous,  the  compliment  is  of  course  cancelled.  But  I  chooso 
to  hope  for  the  best. 


154          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

here,  it  would  meet  with  no  sympathy  from  the  banks 
which  now  adorn  our  metropolis.  Such  an  institution, 
wherever  found,  is,  in  fact,  a  nuisance.  The  men 
who  control  it,  faithless  to  every  trust,  and  swayed 
by  the  basest  motives,  are  chargeable  with  a  crimi 
nality  so  much  the  more  flagrant  than  that  of  private 
offenders,  as  they  have  prostituted  to  a  mercenary 
self-aggrandizement,  a  more  generous  confidence  and 
more  ample  resources.  They  have  used  the  seal  of 
the  government  to  sanctify  their  treachery,  and  abused 
the  confidence  of  the  commonwealth  to  aim  a  serious 
blow  at  its  prosperity.  To  attempt  to  screen  them 
selves  behind  the  impersonality  of  "  the  bank,"  is 
only  another  proof  that  cupidity  and  cowardice  are 
twin  sisters.  The  "bank"  is  but  an  alias  for  them 
selves.  Human  jurisprudence  may  fail  of  establish 
ing  their  identity ;  but  it  may  be  worth  their  while 
to  consider,  whether  it  is  the  "bank"  that  will  be 
called  upon  to  answer  for  these  delinquencies  at  the 
Grreat  Assize. 

No  crisis  ever  occurs  in  the  money-market,  that 
"the  banks"  do  not  come  in  for  a  lavish  amount  of 
censure.  The  usual  assumption  is,  that  they  have 
had  a  controlling  agency  in  inflating  prices  to  a  dan 
gerous  extent,  and  are  therefore  responsible  for  the 
reaction  which  follows.  That  this  may  have  been  so 
in  any  particular  case,  is  quite  certain.  But  it  ought 


TRUE   POSITION   OF   BANKS.  155 

to  be  considered  that  banks,  in  their  legitimate  char 
acter,  are  not  the  regulators,  but  the  implements  of 
trade  ;  and  that  while  they  may  influence  the  tides 
which  bear  the  great  flotillas  of  commerce,  they  are 
themselves  swayed  by  those  tides.  It  is  not  their 
prerogative  to  decide  whether  a  merchant  shall  extend 
his  business  beyond  prudent  limits  or  embark  in  an 
insane  speculation.  That  is  his  concern.  And  if  a 
community  choose  to  do  those  things,  and  find  them 
selves  after  a  while,  as  the  natural  consequence,  drift 
ing  towards  the  shoals  of  insolvency,  they  should  at 
least  suspend  their  maledictions  against  the  banks, 
until  they  learn  whether  the  fault  may  not  lie  nearer 
home.  It  is  one  of  the  invariable  contingencies  of 
business,  that  the  financial  institutions  of  a  country 
may  be  obliged  abruptly  to  reduce  their  discount- 
line,  and,  to  borrow  a  nautical  phrase,  shorten  sail 
in  every  practicable  wray.  The  money  and  the  com 
merce,  the  husbandry  and  the  politics,  of  the  world, 
are  so  reticulated,  that  a  failure  of  the  crops  in 
Turkey,  or  a  civil  revolution  in  Spain,  might  seriously 
affect  the  condition  of  every  bank  in  Missouri  or 
Iowa.  A  wise  merchant  will  consider  this  in  laying 
his  plans,  and  beware  of  so  entangling  himself  with 
banks  that  a  change  in  their  policy  will  subvert  his 
foundations.  The  spirit  of  this  observation  is  also 
applicable  to  the  banks.  Subordinate  as  they  are  to 


156          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

higher  agencies  in  the  trading  and  political  world,  it 
should  be  a  point  of  morals  with  them,  no  less  than  a 
rule  of  practical  wisdom,  so  to  conduct  their  affairs 
as  to  reduce  the  amount  of  disturbance  they  may 
suffer  from  these  extrinsic  causes  to  the  lowest  possible 
degree.  The  very  best  quality  in  the  working  of  a 
bank,  next  to  inflexible  honesty,  is  steadiness.  If  I 
may  recur  again  to  the  sea  for  an  illustration,  when 
a  vessel  is  in  tempestuous  weather,  or  traversing  an 
intricate  channel,  one's  ear  is  saluted  with  the  con 
stant  iteration  of  the  cry  to  the  helmsman,  "  Steady !" 
"  Steady !"  I  know  not  that  there  is  any  word  in 
the  language  which  better  deserves  to  be  hung  up  in 
large  capitals  in  our  bank-parlours,  than  this  homely 
Saxon  dissyllable,  "  STEADY  !"  "  STEADY  !"  The  crew 
that  can  keep  a  financial  ship  steady  through  all  the 
conflicting  winds  and  currents  of  the  business-world, 
is  deserving  of  as  much  honour  as  the  intrepid  navi 
gators  who  thread  their  way  in  safety  through  the 
ice-fields  of  the  Northern  circle.  And,  it  may  be 
added,  the  crew  that  do  not  aim  at  this,  and  strain 
every  nerve  to  accomplish  it,  should  be  discharged 
on  the  first  opportunity. 

I  have  not  intended  by  any  remarks  which  have 
been  made,  to  exonerate  banks  from  all  responsibility 
in  bringing  about  commercial  panics.  In  too  many 
instances  they  have  had  a  leading  part  in  producing 


USE  AND  ABUSE  OF  POWER.        15T 

these  calamities.  It  may  be  unreasonable  to  require 
them  to  "regulate  the  trade"  of  a  country,  but  they 
can  abstain  from  a  policy  which  will  engender  a  spec 
ulating  mania,  and  tempt  houses  to  be  imprudent. 
Indeed,  there  is  a  question  of  morals,  as  well  as  a 
question  of  expediency,  involved  in  the  loaning  of 
their  funds,  whether  with  or  without  reference  to  a 
crisis.  They  are  neither  to  feed  the  fever  of  specu 
lation  by  "  doing"  the  paper  of  firms  already,  as  may 
be  currently  understood,  beyond  their  depth  in  rash 
adventures ;  nor  are  they  to  abet  dishonesty  by  sus 
taining  men  who  have  made  a  fortune  by  failing. 
Honourable  men  wTho  have  experienced  misfortune, 
have  a  claim  upon  them.  Nor  is  there  among  all 
their  functions  a  single  one  more  beneficent  and 
praiseworthy,  than  that  of  assisting  to  set  on  their 
feet,  individuals  of  tried  integrity,  whose  disasters 
have  only  revealed  to  their  creditors  fresh  grounds 
for  respect  and  confidence.  But  they  have  no  right 
to  treat  a  swindler  thus.  A  man  who  has  notoriously 
defrauded  his  creditors,  and  is  by  common  consent 
branded  as  a  rogue,  it  is  not  their  province  to  restore 
to  his  former  standing.  They  might  as  well  put  their 
seal  on  a  forged  draft,  and  send  it  out  as  genuine. 
It  matters  not  that  the  party  concerned  may  tender 
them  ample  securities.  His  paper  is  tainted ;  and  if 
they  touch  it,  the  profits  they  make  upon  it,  go  into 
14 


158          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

their  vaults  as  the  "  wages  of  unrighteousness."  They 
are  not  a  mere  money-making  corporation.  They  are 
trustees.  They  have  no  more  right  to  debauch  the 
morals  of  the  community,  than  they  have  to  circulate 
counterfeit  notes.  And  they  are  doing  this  whenever 
they  employ  their  great  powers  to  reinstate  an  un 
principled  man  in  the  public  confidence. 

The  only  qualification  to  be  appended  to  this  state 
ment,  is,  that  the  principle  shall  not  be  extended  to 
cases  of  merely  alleged  fraud.  Almost  every  failure 
brings  out  a  charge  of  fraud  from  some  quarter. 
And  a  majority  of  failures  certainly  involve  indis 
cretions  which  cannot  be  deemed  innocent.  But 
these  are  usually  treated  with  lenity,  where  a  man 
bears  himself  frankly  and  ingenuously  at  the  time  of 
his  catastrophe.  Banks  must  beware  how  they  allow 
themselves,  in  dealing  with  examples  of  this  sort,  to 
imbibe  the  resentments  of  creditors,  and  oppress  firms 
wrhich  are  trying  to  retrieve  their  former  errors  by  a 
judicious  and  upright  policy.  It  is  one  of  the  benign 
principles  of  the  Divine  government,  "  He  that  con- 
fesseth  and  forsaketh  his  sins  shall  find  mercy."  We 
are  bound  to  adopt  it  in  our  intercourse  with  one 
another.  But  neither  individuals  nor  corporations 
can  be  required  to  countenance  those  who,  having 
defrauded  their  neighbours  once,  give  no  evidence 
that  they  will  not,  should  occasion  offer,  do  it  again. 


DEALING   IN   STOCKS.  159 

The  bank  which  violates  this  rule  for  the  sake  of 
securing  an  advantageous  account,  invades  the  rights 
of  society,  and  tramples  the  moral  code  of  the  Bible 
in  the  dust. 

I  have  had  repeated  occasion  to  refer  to  STOCKS. 
To  preclude  any  misapprehension  in  what  I  am  about 
to  say  further  on  this  subject,  I  wish  to  observe,  that 
as  stocks  have  become  one  of  the  essential  means  of 
commercial  and  political  progress,  so  they  are  as 
legitimate  an  article  of  traffic  as  any  other  com 
modity.  It  is  highly  proper  that  there  should  be  a 
distinct  class  of  men  devoted  to  this  business.  No 
thing  shall  be  uttered  here  in  derogation  of  the  re 
spectability  and  utility  of  the  profession  as  such.  It 
comprises  many  gentlemen,  in  all  our  cities,  of  the 
highest  standing  for  integrity.  If  it  also  embraces  not 
a  few  individuals  of  equivocal  honesty,  this  is  no  less 
the  misfortune  of  other  professions.  Indiscriminate 
censures  are  always  unjust.  No  profession  is  to  be 
judged  by  its  unworthy  members,  nor  any  usage  by 
its  abuses.  But  neither  should  the  personal  excel 
lence  of  individuals,  nor  the  honourable  nature  of 
their  calling,  prevent  us  from  arraigning  the  abuses 
which  may  have  crept  in  among  them,  and  which 
they  may  be  supposed  to  deplore  equally  with  candid 
observers  from  without.  It  is,  indeed,  impossible  to 
avoid  this  topic  in  the  most  cursory  notice  of  a 


160          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUXTING-IIOUSE. 

passion  for  speculation :  for  the  stock-board  is,  more 
than  any  other  point,  the  focus  where  this  passion 
concentrates  itself,  and  which  has  the  chief  agency 
in  inflaming  it. 

If  this  business  were  confined  to  bona  fide  stocks 
and  bona  fide  investments,  the  moralist  might  have 
little  ground  of  complaint.  But  this  is  not  so.  Many 
of  the  stocks  which  are  bought  and  sold,  have  no  real 
value,  and  are  thus  excluded  from  the  sphere  of  hon 
ourable  commerce,  which,  as  already  observed,  con 
sists  in  "  the  exchange  of  equivalents  for  mutual 
advantage."  What  "  exchange  of  equivalents"  is 
there  when  you  sell  a  man  one  of  these  "fancies" 
worth  five  dollars,  for  a  hundred  dollars  ?  Have  you 
given  him  the  worth  of  his  money  ?  You  will  say, 
the  man  should  know  his  own  business,  and  if  he 
chooses  to  buy  a  worthless  article,  it  is  no  fault  of 
yours.  But  have  you  a  right  to  deal  in  "  worthless 
articles"  —  that  is,  have  you  a  right  to  set  an  exor 
bitant  fictitious  value  upon  them,  and  so  put  them  off 
upon  your  neighbours,  who,  as  you  know,  can  make 
no  use  of  them,  and,  to  recover  their  outlay,  must 
treat  some  one  else  as  you  have  treated  them  ?  You 
will  meet  this  by  saying,  that  transactions  of  this 
kind  are  perfectly  understood :  no  one  is  deceived 
by  them :  the  stocks  are  neither  sold  nor  bought  for 
investments ;  they  are  not  even  transferred :  the  whole 


CONTRACTS    ON    TIME.  161 

object  with  both  parties  is  to  make  a  profit  on  them. 
If  you  add,  these  contracts  are  usually  on  time,  we 
shall  have  the  whole  case  before  us.  And  a  very  bad 
case  it  is. 

For,  in  the  first  place,  you  are  trafficking  in  a 
mere  fiction.  As  this  class  of  transactions  is  com 
monly  managed,  the  scrip  would  answer  your  purpose 
just  as  well  if  it  ostensibly  represented  so  many  lots 
at  the  North  Pole  or  in  the  moon.  It  is  no  part  of 
your  real  object  to  sell  the  stock  at  all,  nor  of  the 
buyer's  to  purchase  it.  You  do  not,  probably,  own 
it :  and  he  does  not  want  it.  And  at  the  stipulated 
period  for  consummating  the  transaction,  you  will 
part  with  no  stock,  and  he  will  receive  none.  You 
sell  your  neighbour,  for  example,  100  shares  of  some 
fancy  stock,  deliverable  in  thirty  days,  for  $11,000. 
When  the  day  arrives,  you  may  be  able  to  purchase 
the  requisite  amount  of  scrip  for  $10,000.  Or,  the 
market  having  advanced  during  the  month,  it  may 
cost  you  $11,500.  The  other  party  does  not  want 
the  scrip,  and  you  never  meant  to  buy  it.  All 
you  were  aiming  at,  was,  the  "  differences."  So 
the  operation  is  closed,  in  the  former  case,  by  his 
handing  you  his  check  for  a  thousand  dollars,  and  in 
the  latter,  by  your  handing  him  your  check  for  five 
hundred  dollars  —  the  market-price  on  the  day  of 
settlement  regulating  the  balances.  This  is  substan- 
14* 


162          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

tially  the  nature  of  these  transactions :  with  their 
endless  modifications  we  are  not  concerned.  The 
briefest  possible  glance  at  the  thing  will  show  that 
this  is  not  commerce,  but  gambling  —  sheer,  down 
right,  unmitigated  GAMBLING.  If  you  sell  a  cargo 
of  flour  or  of  cotton,  a  case  of  merchandize  or  a 
dwelling-house,  deliverable  at  the  end  of  a  month, 
you  expect,  as  a  matter  of  course,  to  transfer  the 
property,  and  the  other  party  expects  to  receive  it 
and  pay  the  money.  This  is  legitimate  commerce. 
There  are  responsible  parties,  a  contract,  and  an 
actual  exchange  of  equivalents.  In  the  other  case, 
the  parties  may  be  responsible  men,  or  irresponsible. 
Any  individual  who  is  able  to  get  together  a  few 
hundred  dollars  (if  even  this  is  necessary),  can  operate 
in  these  gambling  stocks  on  a  large  scale.  All  he 
requires  is  cash  or  credit  enough  to  meet  the  amount 
of  his  let,  in  the  event  of  his  losing.  For,  stripped 
of  its  technicalities,  this  selling  "  on  time"  is  simply 
a  wager  that  the  stock  in  question  will  be  worth  a 
certain  sum  on  a  specified  day.  The  principle  is 
identically  the  same  with  betting  on  a  battle  or  a 
horse-race.  So  the  laws  of  England  and  those  of 
some  of  our  own  States  regard  it.  In  England,  a 
penalty  of  .£500  is  laid  upon  every  person  who  makes 
a  "  time-bargain,"  and  the  same  penalty  upon  every 
one  contracting  for  the  sale  of  stock  of  which  he  is 


GAMBLING    IN    STOCKS.  168 

not  possessed  at  the  date  of  the  contract.  In  Penn 
sylvania,  all  sales  of  stocks  to  be  delivered  more  than 
five  days  after  the  contract,  arc  prohibited,  under  a 
penalty  of  from  one  hundred  to  a  thousand  dollars ; 
and  the  amount  of  the  "differences"  paid  under  any 
such  contract,  with  an  additional  penalty  of  twenty 
per  cent,  on  the  said  payment,  may  be  recovered  at 
law  by  the  losing  party,  his  heirs  or  assigns.  In  New 
York,  the  statute  prohibits  all  contracts  for  the  sale 
of  stocks,  and  declares  them  absolutely  void,  unless 
the  party  contracting  to  sell  or  transfer  the  same, 
shall,  at  the  making  of  such  contract,  be  in  the  actual 
possession  of  the  certificates  thereof,  or  otherwise  en 
titled  in  his  own  right,  or  acting  for  others  so  entitled, 
to  sell  or  transfer  the  same.  It  also  prohibits  and 
declares  void  all  wagers  concerning  the  present  or 
future  price  of  stocks,  and  provides  that  money  paid 
or  goods  delivered  by  way  of  premium  or  difference, 
in  pursuance  of  contracts  or  wagers  so  made,  may  be 
recovered  back  from  the  party  receiving  the  same 
and  his  personal  representatives.  —  It  is  quite  imma 
terial  to  our  purpose,  whether  these  laws  are  enforced 
or  not.  Enough  that  this  sort  of  traffic  is  pronounced 
by  the  public  authorities  of  different  countries,  to  be 
an  immorality.  Like  other  kinds  of  gambling,  it 
requires  but  little  capital,  and  holds  out  great  entice 
ments  to  mere  adventurers  and  fortune-hunters.  The 


164          THE    BIBLE    IN    THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

most  honourable  men  may  amass  a  sudden  fortune  by 
dealing  in  stocks.  There  is  no  reason  why  they  should 
not  employ  their  sagacity,  experience,  and  capital,  in 
watching  for  favourable  investments  and  opportune 
transfers,  in  the  Funds  —  provided  only  they  shun 
contracts  on  time,  and  do  a  real,  not  a  fictitious, 
business.  But  it  is  a  great  social  evil  that  speculators 
who  have  neither  means  nor  moral  principle,  should, 
by  a  few  reckless  wagers  at  the  stock-board,  roll  up 
a  princely  estate,  and  then  use  it  to  dazzle  the  town 
with  their  extravagance.  These  examples  are  adapted 
to  have  a  pernicious  influence  upon  the  tribes  of 
young  men  who  are  engaged  in  mercantile  and  manu 
facturing  occupations.  They  are  apt  to  enkindle  in 
the  minds  of  clerks  a  disgust  at  the  tedious  processes 
of  commerce,  and  to  allure  them  from  the  solid  paths 
of  industry  into  the  treacherous  realm  of  speculation. 
Many  of  them  venture  upon  this  without  counting  the 
cost,  and  end  by  robbing  their  employers  and  blasting 
their  own  characters.  Scarcely  a  year  passes  that 
does  not  bring  to  light  some  melancholy  instances  of 
this  kind ;  and  there  are  doubtless  very  many  others 
which  are  never  revealed  to  the  public. 

The  whole  evil  has  not  been  stated.  It  results  from 
the  nature  of  these  transactions,  that  where  any  great 
amounts  are  pending,  the  market  will  not  be  left  to 
the  control  of  natural  or  legitimate  causes.  It  is  the 


VICE   MADE   REPUTABLE.  165 

interest  of  one  party  to  enhance,  and  of  the  other  to 
depress,  it.  Each,  therefore,  will  employ  all  available 
agencies  to  accomplish  his  own  end.  Reports  favour 
able  or  prejudicial  to  the  stock  ;  false  rumours  about 
public  affairs ;  "  money-articles"  in  venal  newspapers ; 
combinations  and  counter -combinations  among  the 
dealers;  these  are  familiar  implements  in  carrying 
forward  the  contests  of  the  stock-exchange.  "What 
ever  generalship  the  operators  may  have,  is  sure  to 
be  put  in  requisition.  No  other  form  of  gambling 
opens  a  wider  field  for  strategy  and  deception,  or  one 
which  is  more  thoroughly  cultivated.  To  say  that 
the  necessary  effect  must  be  to  sear  their  feelings  and 
debauch  their  principles,  is  only  to  repeat  what  may 
be  heard  every  day  in  the  street.  But  the  mischief 
is  not  confined  to  themselves.  Such  a  system  as  this, 
is  like  a  cancer  at  the  heart  of  a  community.  Very 
many  are  drawn  in  and  actually  infected  with  the 
poison.  Then,  again,  the  enormity  of  the  practice  is 
lost  sight  of  in  the  numbers  and  the  respectability 
of  the  parties  who  countenance  it.  It  goes  to  diffuse 
lax  notions  of  moral  obligation ;  to  elevate  craft  and 
cunning  to  a  level  with  integrity ;  to  inspire  the  feel 
ing  that  success  will  sanctify  fraud ;  and  to  stimulate 
still  more  the  predominant  passion  for  speedy  accu 
mulation.  This  is  not  conjecture,  but  history.  The 
public  sentiment  in  all  our  great  cities  is  so  vitiated 


166          THE    BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

on  this  subject,  that  there  is  very  little  hope  of  cor 
recting  it.  "  Gambling  in  stocks"  is  as  current  a 
phrase,  as  gambling  at  cards  or  at  billiards.  But  the 
public  sentiment  tolerates  and  shelters  it.  It  even 
lavishes  its  respect  and  its  honours  upon  the  men  who 
win  the  most  bets  and  carry  off  the  largest  stakes. 
The  moralist  who  ventures  to  point  the  maledictions 
of  the  decalogue  against  the  system,  is  viewed  as  a 
well-meaning,  but  simple,  man,  who  might  as  well 
spare  his  strength,  or  apply  it  to  the  removal  of  some 
more  tractable  evil.  And  neither  the  remonstrances 
of  the  pulpit,  nor  the  frequent  disasters  which  over 
whelm  men  engaged  in  these  pursuits,  and  leave  them 
with  blasted  fortunes  and  characters  and  with  ruined 
families,  have  hitherto  sufficed  to  arouse  the  commu 
nity  to  the  demoralizing  tendencies  of  this  traffic. 
This  is  the  more  ominous,  because  there  seems  to  be 
no  theoretical  difference  of  opinion  on  the  subject. 
All  persons  not  engaged  in  these  speculative  schemes, 
concur  in  branding  them  as  immoral  in  their  very 
principle.  If  the  immorality  lay  in  the  adjuncts  or 
incidents,  the  antidote  would  be,  reformation.  But 
it  lies  in  the  essence  of  the  thing,  and  the  only  effec 
tual  remedy,  therefore,  is  excision. 

Every  consideration  of  virtue  and  of  social  pros 
perity  demands  that  the  traffic  in  stocks  should  be 
regulated  by  the  same  general  rules  which  govern  the 


FICTITIOUS   MERCHANDIZE.  167 

other  branches  of  commerce.  Why  snould  it  not  be  ? 
What  is  there  in  the  nature  of  the  commodity  itself 
which  is  bought  and  sold,  or  in  its  relations  to  the 
public  interest,  to  entitle  this  traffic  to  an  exemption 
from  the  established  laws  of  trade  ?  Yet  such  an 
exemption  is  conceded  to  it.  Let  an  association  of 
merchants  attempt  to  introduce  the  usages  of  the  stock- 
exchange  into  the  business  of  Market  street  or  Pearl 
street  —  to  buy  and  sell  "  on  time"  worthless  or  ficti 
tious  fabrics  —  fabrics  of  which  there  was  not,  and 
never  would  be,  a  piece  in  their  stores  —  for  dealing 
in  which  neither  clerks,  nor  porters,  nor  packing 
boxes,  would  be  required  —  and  which  would  only 
pass  from  hand  to  hand  in  a  supposititious  transfer, 
by  the  payment  of  "differences"  on  the  prescribed 
day  of  delivery.  Is  there  a  city  in  the  Union  that 
would  tolerate  such  a  bare-faced  system  of  gambling 
for  a  single  month  ?  Would  there  not  be  a  universal 
burst  of  indignation,  at  the  audacity  and  profligacy 
of  the  thing  ?  Yet  wherein  would  it  differ  from  that 
class  of  transactions  in  stocks  on  which  I  am  animad 
verting?  The  commodities  are  unlike,  but  that  is 
all.  The  principle  is  the  same.  And  the  question 
for  merchants  and  financiers  to  settle,  is,  why  a  prac 
tice  should  be  openly  fostered  and  encouraged  in  one 
department  of  commerce,  which  would  be  hooted  from 
any  other  department  of  commerce  as  a  disreputable 


168          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

immorality  ?  This  question  derives  increased  signifi- 
sancy  from  the  fact,  already  noted,  that  the  true 
character  of  the  practice  is  not  denied.  All  men 
(those  interested  excepted)  agree  in  pronouncing  it, 
not  only  a  violation  of  the  Scripture  code  of  morals, 
but  a  huge  fountain  of  social  corruption.  Why,  then, 
is  it  not  suppressed  ?  Why  do  not  the  large  and  in 
fluential  body  of  upright  men  belonging  to  that  pro 
fession,  wipe  off  this  stain  from  their  escutcheon,  and 
bring  back  at  least  the  official  business  of  the  stock- 
board  to  its  legitimate  channels?  Private  transac 
tions  they  cannot  control,  although  by  a  moral  influ 
ence  they  might  reach  even  these.  But  their  inability 
to  prevent  private  gambling,  does  not  absolve  them 
from  the  obligation  to  discountenance,  and,  if  possible, 
abolish,  public  gambling.  If  they  have  not  the  cour 
age  to  attempt  this,  the  officers  of  the  law  should 
supply  their  lack  of  service.  And  if  these  are  dis 
posed  to  wink  at  the  evil,  measures  should  be  adopted 
to  form  a  more  healthful  public  sentiment,  which 
might  suppress  this  iniquity,  and  protect  society  from 
its  multifarious  mischiefs. 

In  dismissing  this  subject,  I  must  once  more  dis 
claim  any  intention  to  impugn  the  ordinary  traffic  in 
public  and  corporate  securities.  The  stock-broker  is 
as  indispensable  as  the  merchant,  and  his  legitimate 
business  every  way  as  respectable  and  useful.  I  will 


DANGERS    OF   COVETOUSNESS.  169 

not  say  that  there  are  no  evils  to  be  corrected  within 
the  sphere  where  his  business  lies,  and  to  which,  if 
he  is  a  true  man,  he  confines  himself.  But  I  have 
not  chosen  to  speak  of  them  in  this  Lecture.  Every 
word  of  censure  I  have  uttered,  has  had  respect  to  a 
system  which  is  beyond  the  pale  of  lawful  commerce, 
the  opprobrium  of  the  stock-exchange,  and  a  plague- 
spot  upon  the  face  of  society. 

Logical  exactness  might  demand,  in  deference  to 
the  main  design  of  this  Lecture,  some  further  notice 
of  stock-jobbing  in  its  connection  with  periods  of 
excessive  speculation.  But  the  length  of  this  discus 
sion  admonishes  me  to  close  —  which  I  do  by  remind 
ing  you  of  a  saying  of  our  Lord's,  which  is  extremely 
apposite  to  our  own  age  and  country.  The  motive 
power  which  propels  the  vast  machinery  of  commerce, 
its  iniquitous  no  less  than  its  beneficent  agencies,  is 
the  desire  of  wealth.  This  desire  takes  its  moral  hue 
from  its  motives  and  its  implements.  Its  perpetual 
tendency  is  to  excess ;  and  we  cannot,  therefore, 
ponder  too  often  or  too  seriously  the  admonition, 
"  Take  heed,  and  beware  of  covetousness :  for  a 
man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the 
things  which  he  possesseth."  You  may  accomplish 
all  that  you  have  set  your  hearts  upon,  and  compass 
the  utmost  limits  of  accumulation  with  which  your 
15 


170          THE    BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

fancy  has  loved  to  decorate  your  future  consequence, 
and  still  be  without  any  solid  happiness.  Nay,  the 
more  you  surrender  yourselves  to  the  mastery  of  this 
passion,  the  more  certain  are  you  to  miss  the  true 
enjoyment  of  life.  Nor  is  this  all.  Amidst  the  cares 
and  aspirations  of  your  Counting-rooms,  there  is  a 
process  going  on  which  involves  your  profoundest 
interests.  Business  may  thrive  or  languish,  success 
or  disappointment  may  attend  your  plans,  wealth  or 
poverty  may  be  standing  at  your  doors  —  it  is  all  one 
as  to  your  future  destiny.  Every  hour  is  bearing 
you  on  towards  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ ;  every 
transaction  in  which  you  engage,  every  calamity  that 
sweeps  over  you,  every  auspicious  venture  that  helps 
to  fill  your  coffers,  is  helping  to  mould  your  charac 
ters  for  endless  blessedness  or  eternal  wo.  Whether 
you  are  oppressed  by  the  leaden  stagnation  of  trade, 
or  elated  by  the  ensigns  of  a  luxuriant  prosperity, 
there  is  one  interest  that  never  droops,  one  mighty 
Trafficker  whose  work  never  intermits.  Invisible  to 
mortal  eyes,  he  is  gliding  about  among  you,  alike 
active  and  unsparing  in  your  seasons  of  depression, 
and  in  the  palmiest  days  of  your  commercial  triumph. 
While  he  keeps  at  a  distance,  you  heed  him  not :  he 
may  mow  down  his  victims  by  thousands  without  dis 
turbing  your  composure.  But  sometimes  he  crosses 
your  path  so  near  you  —  he  strikes  down  a  partner, 


A    SUMMONS    FROM    ETERNITY.  171 

a  neighbour,  a  friend,  so  dear  to  your  heart  or  so 
closely  affiliated  with  you  in  business,  that  you  are 
startled :  you  feel  like  one  who  sees  the  ground  torn 
up  at  his  feet  by  a  thunderbolt.  For  the  time,  you 
feel  that  life's  misnamed  realities  are  airy  nothings. 
You  are  ready  to  exclaim,  with  the  great  British 
statesman,  "  What  shadows  we  are  !  What  shadows 
we  pursue  !"  But  how  transient,  too  often,  are  these 
impressions  !  You  miss  that  familiar  form  in  your 
walks,  but  the  crowd  closes  in,  and,  after  a  few  days 
fills  up  the  void  produced  by  his  removal ;  and  though 
he  may  not  be  at  once  forgotten,  the  solemn  and 
tender  reflections  awakened  by  his  death,  are  soon 
merged  in  the  absorbing  secularities  of  your  profes 
sion.  —  Is  this  to  act  as  becomes  your  rational 
nature  ?  Can  you  appeal,  in  its  vindication,  to 
those  maxims  of  prudence  which  govern  you  in 
your  business  -  arrangements.  While  you  are  con 
triving  how  you  may  increase  your  property,  you 
may  be  summoned  to  that  world  where  all  the  gold 
that  was  ever  mined,  could  not  purchase  a  drop  of 
water  to  cool  your  parched  tongues.  While  you  are 
hanging  with  suspense  upon  the  mails  and  the  tele 
graph,  for  intelligence  which  is  to  consummate  or 
blast  your  earthly  hopes,  the  voice  of  God  may 
fall  upon  your  ear,  "  This  night  thy  soul  shall  be 
required  of  thee  ! "  —  I  speak  as  to  wise  men. 


172          THE   BIBLE    IN   THE    COUNTIXG-IIOUSE. 

You  need  a  portion  which  is  satisfying  and  inalien 
able  ;  which  neither  life  with  its  temptations,  nor 
death  with  its  disruption  of  all  mortal  ties,  can  take 
from  you.  Such  a  portion  is  to  be  found  only  in 
the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

"  This  is  the  field  where  hidden  lies 

The  pearl  of  price  unknown ; 
That  merchant  is  di\7inely  wise, 
Who  makes  the  pearl  his  own." 

To  secure  it,  is  to  have  God  for  your  Father,  Christ 
for  your  Saviour,  and  heaven  for  your  heritage.  To 
neglect  it,  is  to  peril  your  everlasting  felicity  on  the 
uncertainties  of  every  fleeting  hour.  Yield,  while 
you  may,  to  the  strivings  of  the  Spirit,  and  accept 
the  proffered  mercy:  for  "the  redemption  of  the  soul 
is  precious,  and  it  ceaseth  for  ever !" 


LUXURIES.  173 


BANKRUPTCY. 

THERE  is  one  invariable  feature  of  a  speculating 
era,  which,  though  alluded  to  in  previous  Lectures, 
has  not  been  set  forth  as  its  importance  demands  — 
I  mean,  luxury  and  extravagance.  These  are  terms 
of  variable  import,  and  it  is  not  always  practicable 
to  use  them  without  the  hazard  of  being  misunder 
stood.  Nor  is  it  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  for  a 
Christian  teacher  to  expound  the  utterances  of  the 
Bible  on  this  subject,  in  a  way  which  shall  meet 
satisfactorily  the  exigencies  of  every  case  that  may 
demand  a  solution.  To  say,  for  example,  that  the 
Bible  prohibits  all  indulgence  in  luxuries,  would  be 
taking  very  ambiguous  and  very  dangerous  ground — 
ambiguous,  because  the  term  "luxuries"  is  of  apoc 
ryphal  and  mutable  signification;  and  dangerous, 
because,  rigidly  carried  out,  this  rule  might  take  the 
bread  out  of  some  millions  of  mouths.  To  our  ances 
tors  at  different  periods,  most  of  the  articles  which 
15* 


174          THE   BIBLE    IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

we  reckon  among  the  indispensable  conveniences,  if 
not  the  necessaries  of  life,  would  have  been  luxuries 
—  our  houses,  food,  clothing,  equipages,  and  the  like. 
Down  to  the  fourteenth  century,  houses  were  built 
without  chimneys.  Glazed  windows  were  so  rare  in 
England,  that  so  late  as  1567  the  glass  casements  at 
Alnwick  Castle  were  taken  down  in  the  absence  of 
the  family,  to  guard  them  from  accident.  It  is  re 
corded  as  a  special  proof  of  the  munificence  of  the 
pompous  Thomas  a  Becket,  when  Lord  Chancellor 
(A.  D.  1154),  that  "  he  caused  his  servants  to  cover 
the  floor  of  his  dining-room  with  clean  straw  or  hay 
every  morning  in  winter,  and  green  branches  of  trees 
in  summer,  that  those  guests  who  could  not  find  room 
to  sit  at  table,  might  sit  on  the  ground  without  spoil 
ing  their  fine  clothes."  The  first  watches  were  made 
in  the  fourteenth  century.  Linen  and  cotton  and 
silk  were  luxuries  among  the  Romans :  and  the  fami 
lies  of  tradesmen  are  now  more  finely  attired  than 
were  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  Caesars. — And 
the  thing  that  has  been,  is  that  which  shall  be. 
Many  of  our  luxuries  will  in  turn  become  common 
place  comforts. 

The  term,  too,  has  another  relative  meaning  of 
more  practical  importance  than  this.  The  station 
and  circumstances  of  individuals  must  be  taken  into 
the  account.  That  may  be  a  luxury,  certainly  an 


THE   QUESTION    OF   LABOUR.  175 

extravagance,  to  one  family,  which  is  not  to  another. 
It  is  not  for  a  censor  of  morals  to  denounce  every 
private  picture-gallery,  or  every  elegant  mansion,  as 
an  extravagance,  because  these  possessions  are  beyond 
the  reach  of  most  persons :  "  for  why  is  my  liberty 
judged  of  another  man's  conscience  ?"  It  is  neither 
argument  nor  apology,  to  say,  "  My  neighbour  has 
done  thus;  therefore,  I  may  do  it."  "Where  there  is 
an  element  of  right  and  wrong,  questions  cannot  be 
settled  in  this  way.  There  is  another  standard,  "the 
law  and  the  testimony." 

In  another  view,  the  absolute  prohibition  of  luxu 
ries  might  have  a  most  disastrous  influence  upon  the 
well-being  of  mankind.  The  question  of  labour,  it  is 
often  said,  is  the  great  question  of  this  age.  What 
shall  be  done  with  the  masses  ?  How  employ  them  ? 
How  remunerate  them  ?  How  elevate  them  ?  Idle 
ness  has  always  been  fatal  to  them.  And  if  they 
were  restricted  to  the  production  of  the  mere  conve 
niences  of  life,  whether  by  agriculture  or  the  mechanic 
arts,  the  great  body  of  them  would  soon  have  to 
abandon  their  occupations,  and  either  go  into  alms- 
houses  or  betake  themselves  to  hunting  and  fishing 
for  a  livelihood.  Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that 
the  traffic  in  articles  of  taste  and  fancy,  is  one  of  the 
chief  sources  of  support  to  the  working  population  of 
the  globe.  How  many  deserving  families  would  suffer 


176          THE   BIBLE   IX   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

by  a  sumptuary  law  forbidding  the  citizens  of  this 
country  to  use  coaches,  or  gold  watches,  or  books  iii 
costly  binding ;  or  by  a  statute  like  that  of  England 
in  1337,  restricting  even  the  wealthy  to  two  courses 
at  a  meal  and  two  dishes  to  a  course ;  or  like  one  in 
Ireland  a  century  later,  prohibiting  gilt  bridles  and 
harness,  under  pain  of  confiscation.  That  cannot  be 
a  Scripture  code  of  ethics  which  w^ould  turn  thousands 
of  industrious  artisans  adrift  upon  the  world  without 
occupation.  Nor  could  society  sustain  itself  under 
such  a  regimen.  Its  means  of  wealth  and  progress 
would  be  seriously  abridged,  and  a  general  decline 
would  ensue,  no  less  in  its  intellectual  and  moral, 
than  in  its  material  interests. 

The  evil,  however,  is,  that  these  principles  are 
grossly  abused  and  perverted  in  seasons  of  specula 
tion.  The  money  which  is  hurriedly  made,  is  waste- 
fully  expended.  The  contest  for  gain  in  the  arena 
of  business,  is  carried  forward  as  a  race  for  ostenta 
tion  in  social  life.  Profusion  becomes  the  order  of 
the  day  with  those  who  can,  and  those  who  cannot 
afford  it.  Luxury  is  made,  not  the  exception,  but 
the  rule.  Houses  vieing  with  palaces  in  splendor,  a 
style  of  dress  suited  to  a  Court,  entertainments  which 
would  not  discredit  an  imperial  "  Reception,"  day 
turned  into  night  and  night  into  day,  artificial  man 
ners,  artificial  characters,  and  the  endless  trumpery 


SHOW  AND   SUBSTANCE.  177 

which  goes  to  make  up  a  life  of  fashionable  dissipa 
tion,  —  such  are  the  familiar  concomitants  of  one  of 
these  periods  of  commercial  inflation.  The  entire 
social  structure  assumes  by  degrees  a  type  correspon 
ding  with  the  prevailing  idolatry  of  Mammon.  The 
current  talk  is  of  money  and  fortunes.  The  flow  of 
adulation  is  in  the  channels  money  has  dug,  and  to 
ward  the  points  where  new-made  wealth  holds  its 
levees.  People  are  gauged,  not  by  their  worth,  but 
by  what  they  are  worth  ;*  or  rather  by  what  they 
seem  to  be  worth.  For  these  are  times  of  show  more 
than  of  substance.  It  is  one  of  the  foolish  and  un 
warrantable  expedients  for  maintaining  credit,  to  keep 
up  an  expensive  domestic  establishment ;  and  you 
know  not  from  any  outward  symbols,  whether  such 
an  establishment  is  an  evidence  of  wealth,  or  simply 
a  device  to  preserve  the  appearance  of  wealth.  We 
will  put  the  most  charitable  construction,  however, 
on  all  that  meets  the  eye,  and  assume  that  the  exam 
ples  around  us  are  those  of  men  who  have  really 
amassed  great  riches  by  a  brief  career  of  earnest  and 
daring  speculation.  Let  us  trace  them  a  step  or  two 
further. 

It  is  apparent  (to  repeat  a  thought  already  ex- 

*  "  For  what  in  worth  is  anything 

But  so  much  money  as  'twill  bring." — BUTLER. 


178          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTIXG-HOUSE. 

pressed),  that  they  have  lost  the  advantages  which 
are  bound  up  in  a  business-Zz/e.  They  have  reached 
the  goal,  but  by  a  side-road.  Their  hopes  are  turned 
into  golden  fruition ;  but  they  have  missed  that  per 
sonal  training  which  would  have  outweighed  all  their 
gold. 

"  What  men  most  covet,  wealth,  distinction,  power, 
Are  baubles  nothing  worth,  that  only  serve 
To  rouse  us  up  as  children  in  the  schools 
Are  roused  up  to  exertion.     The  reward 
Is  in  the  race  we  run,  not  in  the  prize ; 
And  they,  the  few  that  have  it  ere  they  earn  it, 
Know  not,  nor  ever  can,  the  generous  pride 
That  glows  in  him  who  on  himself  relies, 
Entering  the  lists  of  life." 

The  parties  we  are  contemplating,  are  most  happy  to 
relinquish  these  advantages  to  others.  The  road  to 
fortune  by  which  they  have  travelled,  has  conducted 
them  to  the  rewards  of  business  without  its  cares 
and  anxieties.  Their  garners  are  filled,  without  the 
trouble  of  sowing  and  reaping.  What  remains  but 
to  address  themselves  to  the  duties  of  their  new  posi 
tion,  and  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  good  fortune  ? 

One  of  the  visions  which  flitted  before  them  in  their 
days  of  speculation,  was  a  well-stocked  Library.  The 
vision  is  realized.  There  is  the  library,  very  rich  and 
very  beautiful  —  books,  cases,  lounges,  pictures,  all 


THE   LIBRARY.  179 

arranged  with  skill  and  splendour.  One  thing  only 
is  wanting  —  a  taste  for  reading.  They  wonder  that 
the  great  lights  of  literature  should  be  so  very  dull. 
They  pass  from  History  to  Philosophy,  from  Philoso 
phy  to  Biography,  and  then  to  Politics,  Travels,  Di 
vinity,  Romance,  Painting,  but  "  'tis  all  barren." 
Paradise  Lost  is  nothing  to  the  "money  article"  in 
the  morning  paper. — Literature  is  taking  its  revenge. 
They  discarded  her  for  years,  and  now  she  discards 
them.  They  surrendered  themselves  to  one  passion. 
The  chief  end  of  man,  in  their  creed,  was  to  get  rich. 
And  they  talked  and  planned  and  dreamed  of  money, 
until  the  world  was,  to  them,  nothing  but  a  great 
money-shop.  They  won  the  race,  but  came  out  of  it 
altered  men.  "  Can  a  man  take  fire  in  his  bosom, 
and  his  clothes  not  be  burned  ?  Can  one  go  upon 
hot  coals,  and  his  feet  not  be  burned  ?"  Neither  can 
a  man  sell  himself  to  avarice,  without  having  every 
refined  and  generous  sentiment  of  his  nature  weakened 
by  it.  They  may  have  the  library ;  but  it  will  be  to 
them  very  much  what  the  great  libraries  of  the  Dark 
Ages  were  to  the  monks  who  kept  the  keys  of  them.* 

*  Some  other  persons  have  bought  literature  "  by  measure," 
besides  the  English  steward  who  wrote  to  a  bookseller  in  Lon 
don,  for  books  to  complete  his  master's  library,  in  the  follow 
ing  terms :  —  "In  the  first  place,  I  want  six  feet  of  Theology, 
the  same  quantity  of  Metaphysics,  and  near  a  yard  of  old 
Civil  Law,  in  folio." 


180          THE   BIBLE    IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

Another  of  their  visions  was  a  quiet  and  elegant 
Home,  with  ample  leisure  for  the  training  of  their 
children  and  the  fruition  of  domestic  comfort.  During 

o 

their  few  years  of  business,  their  houses  have  been  to 
them  rather  like  taverns,  where  they  have  taken  their 
meals  and  lodgings,  than  their  homes.  When  osten 
sibly  there,  it  has  been  their  physical  presence  merely, 
their  thoughts  have  been  on  'Change  or  at  the  Board 
of  Brokers,  with  a  cotton  speculation  at  Liverpool, 
or  a  land  speculation  in  Illinois,  or  a  flour  speculation 
at  San  Francisco.  As  to  educating  their  children, 
they  have  indeed  transferred  them  to  a  larger  house, 
and  thrown  around  them  the  glare  of  luxury  ;  but 
the  whole  responsibility  of  forming  their  principles 
has  been  left  to  other  hands.  This  hard  necessity 
has  now  passed  away,  and  they  will  hasten  back 
(so  they  think)  to  their  firesides  as  a  bird  to  its  nest. 

But  home,  somehow,  is  not  what  they  expected  to 
find  it.  They  dispensed  with  it  so  long,  that  it  ceased 
to  be  essential  to  them.  The  master-passion  which 
consumed  their  early  literary  tastes,  made  sad  inroads 
upon  their  domestic  affections.  They  learn,  to  their 
surprise,  that  going  abroad,  which  has  ceased  to  be 
a  necessity,  has  become  a  matter  of  choice,  and  that 
the  financiers  and  traffickers  of  the  town,  are  better 
company  than  that  around  their  own  hearth. 

Their  children  they  can  instruct  in  the  mysteries 


UNCONSCIOUS   TEACHING.  181 

of  trade  and  finance,  in  the  most  lucrative  kinds  of 
traffic  and  the  best  investments ;  but  they  would  be 
at  some  loss  how  to  imbue  them  with  enlarged  views 
of  their  relations  and  duties,  and  to  inspire  them  with 
those  pure  principles  and  exalted  aims  which  are 
alone  worthy  of  an  intelligent  and  accountable  race 
of  creatures.  In  one  aspect,  they  may  have  done 
more  to  educate  them  than  they  were  aware  of.  A 
family  of  children  accustomed  to  hear  money  made 
the  standing  theme  of  conversation,  the  gauge  and 
measure  of  all  other  values,  will  be  likely  either  to 
inherit  the  father's  covetousness,  or  to  plunge  into 
the  vortex  of  fashionable  frivolity.  And  in  the  latter 
case,  he  may  find  it  as  hopeless  to  bring  them  back 
to  the  simple  tastes  and  habits  which  preceded  his 
first  successful  speculation,  as  he  would  to  reduce  a 
forest  of  giant  oaks  to  a  nursery. 

Another  duty  which  has  been  all  along  assigned  to 
this  golden  era,  is,  preparation  for  death  and  eter 
nity.  But  the  same  incapacity  or  indisposition  waits 
upon  them  in  this  office  as  in  the  others.  They  dis 
cover  that  there  are  other  obstacles  between  their 
souls  and  heaven,  than  "the  claims  of  business." 
They  have  "  made  haste  to  be  rich,"  and  they  must 
bear  the  consequences.  A  career  of  speculation  has 
a  peculiar  tendency  to  make  men  both  selfish  and 
proud,  not  to  speak  of  its  searing  the  conscience  and 
16 


182          THE    BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

multiplying  the  cords  which  bind  them  to  the  world. 
And  where  covetousness  and  inordinate  self-esteem 
join  together  in  taking  possession  of  a  man,  he  is 
about  as  well  fortified  against  religion  as  any  charac 
ter  to  be  met  with  in  society.  "  With  God  all  things 
are  possible,"  and  such  men  are  sometimes  changed 
into  humble  and  liberal  Christians.  But  it  is,  unhap 
pily,  no  fancy  sketch  which  the  poet  has  drawn  of 
gold  and  its  worshippers,  who 

"  on  its  altar  sacrificed  ease,  peace, 

Truth,  faith,  integrity ;  good  conscience,  friends, 

Love,  charity,  benevolence,  and  all 

The  sweet  and  tender  sympathies  of  life  ; 

And,  to  complete  the  horrid,  murderous  rite, 

And  signalize  their  folly,  offered  up 

Their  souls  and  an  eternity  of  bliss, 

To  gain  them  —  what?  an  hour  of  dreaming  joy, 

A  feverish  hour,  that  hasted  to  be  done 

And  ended  in  the  bitterness  of  wo." 

The  best  side  of  this  picture  is  not  very  promising. 
If  such  are  the  common  issues  of  a  career  of  success 
ful  speculation,  what  are  its  opposite  issues  ?  It 
would  be  useless  to  portray  in  its  details  the  collapse 
which  usually  follows  one  of  these  eras  of  commercial 
bewilderment ;  but  this  seems  a  proper  place  to  make 
a  few  observations  on  the  general  subject  of  mercan 
tile  EMBARRASSMENTS  AND  BANKRUPTCIES. 

Nearly  twenty  years  ago  an  aged  gentleman  of 


LIABILITY   TO    FAILURE.  183 

largo  experience  in  business,  said  to  me,  "Almost 
every  merchant  fails."  The  remark  startled  me ; 
and  lie  immediately  repeated  it,  with  emphasis : 
"Almost  every  merchant  fails  once."  Most  persons 
might  be  disposed  to  qualify  it.  And  yet  there  are 
some  very  striking  statistics  published  on  the  subject. 
The  testimony  of  the  late  General  Dearborn,  who  was 
for  twenty  years  Collector  of  the  Port  of  Boston, 
must  be  familiar  to  most  merchants.  In  the  course 
of  an  agricultural  address  delivered  in  1840,  he  said — 
"  After  an  extensive  acquaintance  with  business  men, 
and  having  long  been  an  attentive  observer  of  the 
course  of  events  in  the  mercantile  community,  I  am 
satisfied  that  among  one  hundred  merchants  and 
traders  in  this  city  (Boston),  not  more  than  three 
ever  acquired  an  independence.  It  was  with  great 
distrust  that  I  came  to  this  conclusion ;  but,  after 
consulting  with  an  experienced  merchant  he  fully 
admitted  its  truth." 

The  following  communication  subsequently  ap 
peared  in  the  "Farmer's  Library:" — 

"  The  statement  made  by  General  Dearborn  appeared  to 
me  so  startling,  so  appalling,  that  I  was  induced  to  examine 
it  with  much  care,  and,  I  regret  to  say,  I  found  it  true.  I 
then  called  upon  a  friend,  a  great  antiquarian,  a  gentleman 
always  referred  to  in  all  matters  relating  to  the  city  of  Boston, 
and  he  told  me  that  in  the  year  1800,  he  took  a  memorandum 


184          THE    BIBLE    IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

of  every  person  on  Long  Wharf,  and  that  in  1840  —  which  is 
as  long  as  a  merchant  continues  in  business  —  only  five  in 
one  hundred  remained.  They  had  all,  in  that  time,  failed, 
or  died  destitute  of  property.  I  then  went  to  a  very  intelligent 
director  of  the  Union  Bank,  a  very  strong  bank.  lie  told  me 
that  the  bank  commenced  business  in  1798 ;  that  there  was 
then  but  one  other  bank  in  Boston,  the  Massachusetts  Bank, 
and  that  the  bank  was  so  overrun  with  business  that  the  clerks 
and  officers  were  obliged  to  work  until  twelve  o'clock  at  night 
and  all  Sundays :  that  they  had  occasion  to  look  back,  a  year 
or  two  ago,  and  they  found,  that  of  the  one  thousand  accounts 
which  were  opened  with  them  in  starting,  only  six  remained: 
they  had,  in  the  forty  years,  either  failed  or  died  destitute  of 
property.  Houses  whose  paper  had  passed  without  a  ques 
tion,  had  all  gone  in  that  time.  '  Bankruptcy/  said  he,  '  is 
like  death,  and  almost  as  certain ;  they  fall  single  and  alone, 
and  are  thus  forgotten  :  but  there  is  no  escape  from  it,  and 
he  is  a  fortunate  man  who  fails  young.' 

"Another  friend  told  me  that  he  had  occasion  to  look 
through  the  Probate  Office  a  few  years  since,  and  he  was 
surprised  to  find  that  over  ninety  per  cent,  of  all  the  estates 
settled  there  were  insolvent.  And  within  a  few  days,  I 
have  gone  back  to  the  incorporation  of  our  banks  in  Boston. 
I  have  a  list  of  the  directors  since  they  started.  This  is, 
however,  a  very  unfair  way  of  testing  the  rule,  for  bank- 
directors  are  the  most  substantial  men  in  the  community. 
In  the  old  bank,  over  one-third  had  failed  in  forty  years, 
and  in  the  new  bank,  a  much  larger  proportion." 

Allowing  that  these  facts  represent  even  approxi 
mately  the  general  course  of  things  in  our  great  cities, 


MORAL   TESTS    OF   BANKRUPTCY.  185 

there  is  matter  in  them  for  serious  consideration  on 
the  part  of  young  men  who  are  about  selecting  their 
occupation  for  life.  Those  who  have  inherited  an 
ample  patrimony  especially,  may  well  ponder  them ; 
for  it  has  come  to  be  an  axiom,  that  if  a  young  man 
of  fortune  goes  into  business,  he  will  fail  of  course. 
Our  present  concern,  however,  is  with  the  moral,  not 
the  economical,  aspects  of  this  subject.  And  on  this 
point,  it  is  proper  to  observe  that  there  are  many 
failures  which  involve  no  dereliction  of  principle,  and 
leave  no  stain  upon  the  character.  The  most  upright 
men  sometimes  fail.  Men  of  tried  prudence  and  of 
great  experience  fail.  Although  no  man  of  proper 
sensibility  can  fail  without  feeling  deeply  concerned 
on  account  of  the  losses  others  may  suffer  by  him, 
the  circumstances  of  the  disaster  may  be  such  as  to 
remove  all  ground  for  self-reproach. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  we  must  except  from  this 
category,  bankruptcies  brought  about  by  causes  like 
those  we  have  been  dwelling  upon  in  this  and  the 
previous  Lectures.  A  merchant  who  would  recognize 
the  authority  of  the  Bible  in  his  Counting- House, 
must  consider  carefully  the  proper  tendencies  of  his 
measures.  Habits  and  usages  which  have  usually  led 
to  bankruptcy,  have  a  taint  of  immorality.  There  is 
a  line  beyond  which  firms  have  no  moral  right  to 
16* 


186          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

extend  their  business.  It  may  not  always  be  easy 
to  adjust  this  line,  but  no  house  will  get  far  beyond 
it  without  some  misgivings ;  and  when  these  begin, 
they  had  better  retrace  their  steps.  Failures  may  be 
brought  about  by  sheer  neglect  and  self-indulgence. 
A  prosperous  trader  may  grow  weary  of  the  routine 
of  his  warehouse.  His  clerks  are  competent  and 
faithful :  there  is  no  necessity  for  confining  himself 
as  closely  now  as  he  did  for  the  first  year  or  two  of 
his  business :  why  should  he  not  devote  a  portion  of 
every  pleasant  day  to  sporting,  or  driving  out,  or 
some  other  recreation?  He  tries  it  —  and  fails.  Is 
there  no  delinquency  here  ?  The  case  is  still  stronger 
with  the  insolvencies  occasioned  by  rash  speculations 
and  domestic  extravagance.  A  late  eminent  jurist 
of  our  city  has  expressed  himself  on  this  point  in 
terms  of  eloquent  indignation.  "Money  so  easily 
got  is  as  lightly  spent,  and  brings  us  to  another  dark 
and  deep  stain  on  our  commercial  reputation.  The 
proud  splendour,  the  reckless  extravagance,  the  bound 
less  luxury,  in  which  these  ephemeral  princes  indulge 
themselves,  is  shockingly  immoral,  when,  at  the  con 
clusion  of  the  pageant,  it  appears  that  it  was  got  up 
at  the  expense,  perhaps  on  the  ruin,  of  their  creditors. 
Magnificent  mansions  in  town  and  country,  gorgeous 
furniture,  shining  equipages,  costly  entertainments  at 
which  five  hundred  or  a  thousand  dollars  are  squan- 


TESTIMONY   OF   JUDGE   HOPKINSOX.  187 

dered  in  an  evening ;  in  short,  a  style  of  living,  an 
exuberance  of  expenditure,  which  would  be  unwise  in 
our  country  with  any  amount  of  fortune,  and  is  abso 
lutely  criminal  in  the  actual  circumstances  of  the 
spendthrift.  When  the  blow  falls  that  prostrates  this 
grandeur,  what  efforts  are  made  upon  the  good-nature 
of  the  creditors,  to  retain  as  much  as  possible  of  these 
gaudy  trappings  for  the  family,  instead  of  casting 
them  away  as  the  badges  and  testimonies  of  decep 
tion  and  dishonour !  Little  sympathy  is  shown  for 
the  injuries  and  losses  of  those  who  have  fed  with 
their  substance  the  bloated  folly  of  the  delinquent ; 
little  regard  to  public  opinion  is  manifested  by  him, 
and  scarcely  a  sense  of  decorum  or  shame :  but  every 
thing  is  hurried  to  a  conclusion,  that  he  may  resume 
what  he  calls  his  business,  be  trusted,  and  —  betray 
again."* 

It  needs  to  be  more  deeply  impressed  upon  the 
conscience  of  the  commercial  world,  that  improvidence 
in  contracting  debts,  especially  where  this  is  associ 
ated  with  speculations  and  luxurious  living,  is  itself 
a  palpable  violation  of  the  law  of  God.  And  the 
question,  whether  a  failure  involves  immorality,  will 
admit  of  a  speedy  solution,  if  it  can  be  shown  that 
this  was  the  cause  of  it.  The  statistics  on  this  point 

*  The  Hon.  Joseph  Ilopkinson. 


188          THE    BIBLE    IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

relating  to  our  last  commercial  crisis,  are  frightful  — 
as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  table :  — 

Number  of  applicants  for  relief  under  the  gen 
eral  Bankrupt  law,  1841 33,739 

Number  of  creditors  returned 1,049,603 

Amount  of  debts  stated $440,934,615 

Valuation  of  property  surrendered $43,697,307 

According  to  these  returns,  a  capital  of  forty-three 
millions  was  made  to  sustain  an  indebtedness  of  four 
hundred  and  forty  millions !  And  the  real  facts  were 
much  worse.  The  dividends  actually  paid  were,  in 
the  Southern  District  of  New  York,  one  cent  on  the 
dollar ;  in  the  Northern  District,  thirteen  and  one- 
third  cents ;  in  Connecticut,  a  half  cent ;  in  Missis 
sippi,  six  cents  to  one  thousand  dollars ;  in  Maine,  a 
half  cent,  in  Michigan  and  Iowa,  a  quarter  cent,  in 
New  Jersey,  four  cents,  to  the  hundred  dollars  —  and 
so  on,  throughout  the  Union.  These  figures  are 
pregnant  with  meaning.  And  they  concern  the  mor 
alist,  no  less  than  statesmen  and  legislators.  They 
display,  as  in  a  mirror,  the  reckless  mania  for  specu 
lation  and  prodigality,  which  brought  about  the  crash 
of  '37.  Four  hundred  millions  of  dollars  swallowed 
up,  and  nothing  to  showT  for  it !  Nothing  ?  Alas, 
there  was  too  much  to  show  for  it.  A  paralyzed 
commerce  —  stagnation  in  all  the  marts  of  business  — 


A   NATION   DEBAUCHED    BY   SPECULATION.      189 

thousands  of  families  ruined  —  comfort  ani  opulence 
succeeded  by  penury  and  suffering  —  wrecks  of  for 
tunes  and,  far  worse,  wrecks  of  character,  strewn  all 
over  the  land  —  faithlessness,  dishonesty,  treachery, 
in  every  direction  —  crime  enough  to  blast  a  nation 
for  this  world  and  ruin  them  for  the  next :  these 
were  the  avails  of  that  four  hundred  millions  wasted 
in  riotous  and  wicked  speculation.  I  mean  what  I 
say  —  "wicked  speculation."  It  was  wicked,  inex 
cusably,  flagrantly  wicked.  And  its  criminality  is 
not  extenuated  by  the  fact  that  through  the  favour 
of  a  benign  Providence,  the  recuperative  energy  of  the 
country  has  in  a  measure  retrieved  our  pecuniary 
losses.  The  most  revolting  features  of  that  period 
are  ineradicable.  History  has  engraved  them  upon 
her  tablets,  and  will  hand  them  down  to  all  coming 
generations,  as  an  illustration  of  the  profound  moral 
debasement  to  which  an  unbridled  passion  for  wealth 
will  reduce  even  the  most  powerful  and  prosperous 
nation. 

It  has  been  aptly  observed,  that  "  directly  above 
the  great  cataract  of  insolvency,  lie  most  dangerous 
rapids."  A  boatman  whose  shallop  has  been  drawn 
into  the  whirling  tide  above  Niagara,  would  supply 
no  inapposite  exemplar  of  an  embarrassed  merchant 
sweeping  on  towards  the  final  catastrophe.  Those 
who  have  seen  and  shuddered  over  the  spectacle,  tell 


190          THE    BIBLE    IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

us  that  the  struggles  of  a  waterman  caught  in  the 
"Rapids,"  the  superhuman  energy  with  which  he 
tugs  at  his  oars,  the  spasmodic  grasp  with  which  he 
snatches  at  every  projecting  rock,  the  frenzy  with 
which  he  flies  from  one  end  of  his  frail  skiff  to  the 
other,  and  the  commingled  horror  and  despair  de 
picted  in  his  countenance,  as  the  remorseless  waves 
hurry  him  on  to  the  verge  of  the  cataract,  constitute 
a  scene  which  neither  pen  nor  pencil  could  delineate. 
You  have  its  archetype  among  you,  too  often  pre 
sented  amidst  the  fluctuations  of  commerce  not  to  be 
familiar  to  every  merchant.  For  who  has  not  seen 
the  corresponding  process  enacted  over  and  over  again 
in  the  walks  of  trade  —  an  embarrassed  house  striving 
to  elude  the  demon  of  bankruptcy,  which  is  hovering 
over  them, 

"Fierce  as  ten  furies,  terrible  as  hell." 

With  what  anxiety  and  desperation  do  they  labour  to 
stave  off  the  impending  calamity,  which  they  see,  and 
yet  will  not  see.  What  a  rallying  of  their  resources  ! 
What  skilful  and  rapid  transmutations  of  their  pre 
carious  credit  into  successive  shapes,  adjusted  to  fresh 
exigencies  !  New  purchases  and  forced  sales  —  usu 
rious  loans  —  notes  offered  at  untried  banks  —  fresh 
drafts  upon  neighbouring  houses  —  proceeds  which 
should  have  been  remitted  to  their  principals,  applied 


THE   DEATH-STRUGGLE.  191 

to  cancel  paper  —  one  piece  of  property  after  another 
sacrificed  —  urgent  appeals  to  private  friends  for  suc 
cour  —  money  raised  on  borrowed  securities  —  and  all 
this  while,  appearances  kept  up  —  mind  and  body  on 
the  rack  —  candour  giving  way  to  concealment  —  in 
tegrity  breaking  down  —  earnest  and  unsuccessful 
efforts  to  regard  wrong  actions  as  right,  and  to  be 
lieve  there  is  no  real  danger  —  conscience  reclaiming 
—  the  whole  character  deteriorating  —  and  the  house 
driving  on  toward  the  abyss,  until,  at  length, 

"  all  unawares, 

Fluttering  their  pennons  vain,  plumb  down  they  drop 
Ten  thousand  fathom  deep." 

This  is  no  picture  of  the  imagination.  There  is  not 
a  large  city  in  Europe  or  America  where  it  has  not 
been  realized  in  all  its  fulness,  too  often  to  attract 
attention  any  longer  by  its  novelty.  All  failures  are 
not  of  this  kind,  but  so  many  are  —  this  is  so  much 
the  usual  course  of  things  —  that  every  merchant 
ought  to  make  up  his  mind  as  to  its  policy  and  its 
morality.  Viewing  it  from  the  stand-point  we  now 
occupy,  and  testing  it  by  the  morality  of  the  BIBLE, 
there  can  be  but  one  estimate  formed  of  it.  Its  rash 
ness,  its  folly,  its  (must  I  say  it  ?)  immorality,  must 
be  known  and  read  of  all  men.  We  may  sympathize 
with  men  who  are  brought  into  these  most  trying  cir 
cumstances  ;  we  may  honour  their  deep  solicitude  to 


192          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

save  themselves  and  their  creditors :  but  we  cannot, 
as  Scripture  casuists,  nor  even  as  upright  men,  com 
mend  the  course  they  have  pursued.  The  universal 
feeling  will  be,  that  they  ought  to  have  stopped 
SOONER.  They  should  not  have  shut  their  eyes  to 
their  real  condition.  However  painful  the  conviction, 
they  ought  to  have  yielded  to  it,  that  their  resources 
were  inadequate  to  carry  them  through  the  storm, 
and  that  it  would  be  far  better  to  succumb  at  once 
than  to  consume  their  remaining  assets  in  waging  so 
hopeless  a  contest.  These  assets,  they  should  have 
remembered,  were  not  theirs.  They  belonged  to 
their  creditors.  And  it  was  a  double  wrong,  not 
only  to  withhold  from  them  what  they  had  already 
in  hand,  but  to  procure  of  them  or  of  others,  fresh 
loans  to  be  absorbed  in  paying  off  third  parties. 
There  can  be  few  things  in  mercantile  experience 
more  vexatious,  than  to  find  that  the  paper  your 
neighbour  obtained  from  you,  was  used  by  him,  as  he 
was  about  breaking,  to  liquidate  the  claim  of  some 
other  house ;  or  to  see  the  iron  or  the  produce  you 
sold  him  on  credit  last  week,  on  the  eve  of  his  bank 
ruptcy,  stored  away  in  the  lofts  of  another  firm,  who 
were  as  clamorous  in  demanding  their  money,  as  you 
were  generous  in  lending  yours.  It  is  too  much  to 
expect  that  transactions  of  this  kind  should  be  borne 
with  equanimity.  They  are  of  a  class  of  provocations 


DUTY   OF   INSOLVENTS.  193 

which  will  set  a  passionate  man  on  fire,  and  stir  up 
the  displeasure  of  the  very  meekest  spirits. 

When  the  blow  has  fallen,  other  errors  are  fre 
quently  committed  no  less  serious.  If  the  property 
of  the  bankrupt  belongs  to  his  creditors,  it  should  be 
handed  over  to  them  —  promptly,  entirely,  without 
concealment,  without  unjust  preferences.  It  is  not 
for  him  to  say  how  it  shall  be  disposed  of,  nor  to 
divide  it  at  his  discretion.  The  least  he  can  in  reason 
or  justice  do,  is,  to  surrender  it  to  them,  and  let  them 
say  what  shall  be  done  with  it.  If  he  does  this,  he 
will  have  his  reward.  His  own  conscience  will  ratify 
it,  and  his  creditors,  if  they  are  high-minded  men, 
will  be  indulgent  to  his  mistakes,  and  aid  him,  in  so 
far  as  he  is  worthy  of  their  help,  in  resuscitating  his 
business.  But  instead  of  this  honourable  conduct, 
many  a  bankrupt  conceals  a  portion  of  his  property, 
submits  a  deceptive  statement  to  his  creditors,  clogs 
his  surrender  with  unwarrantable  conditions,  com 
promises  on  terms  much  below  his  true  capacity,  or 
otherwise  contravenes  the  first  principles  of  morality. 
You  may  even  find  men  who  grow  rich  by  failing. 
They  have  the  tact  and  the  audacity  to  regain  confi 
dence  in  financial  circles,  break  as  often  as  they  may. 
Every  body  believes  them  to  be  rogues,  but  they  have 
money,  and  "money  answereth  all  things."  They 
are  trusted,  therefore ;  and  when  the  most  eligible 
17 


194          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

moment  in  their  stock-jobbing  or  other  speculations 
arrives,  they  "stop."  And  the  oftener  they  stop, 
the  wealthier  they  get.  If  they  were  poor,  the  law 
might  notice  them. 

"  Plate  sin  with  gold, 

And  the  strong  lance  of  justice  hurtless  breaks; 
Arm  it  in  rags,  a  pigmy's  straw  doth  pierce  it." 

This  surely  is  the  reason  —  there  can  be  no  other 
—  why  every  great  community  embraces  more  or  less 
of  these  unprincipled  bankrupts,  who  look  out  super 
ciliously  from  their  ceiled  houses  or  their  gorgeous 
equipages,  upon  scores  of  industrious  men  whose 
property  their  pretended  "  failures"  have  absorbed 
into  their  estates.*  "  This  is  a  sore  evil  under  the 
sun:"  happily  for  the  mercantile  body,  it  is  less 
common  among  them  than  in  the  ranks  of  professed 

*  These  men  belong  to  the  class  for  whom  bankrupt  laws 
were  originally  designed.  "  The  first  bankrupt  statute,  34  & 
35  Hen.  VIII.,  c.  4,  begins  with  this  preamble :  *  Whereas 
divers  and  sundry  persons,  craftily  obtaining  into  their  hands 
great  substance  of  other  men's  goods,  do  suddenly  flee  to 
parts  unknown,  or  keep  their  houses,  not  minding  to  pay  or 
restore  to  any  their  creditors  their  debts  and  duties,  but  at 
their  own  wills  and  pleasures  consume  the  substance  obtained 
by  credit  of  other  men,  for  their  own  pleasure  and  delicate 
living,  against  all  reason,  equity,  and  good  conscience."  — 
CHRISTIAN'S  BLACKSTONE. 


SWINDLERS.  195 

financiers.  But  the  baseness  of  such  a  career,  may 
well  admonish  every  merchant  of  the  importance, 
should  misfortune  overtake  him,  of  avoiding  the 
remotest  appearance  of  equivocation  or  dishonesty. 
Bankruptcy  is  not  necessarily  linked  with  disgrace. 
It  is  one  of  the  noblest  characteristics  of  the  commer 
cial  profession,  that  they  are  so  ready  to  succour  a 
brother  in  adversity.  If  he  is  really  a  competent 
and  deserving  man,  who  has  kept  his  integrity  un 
tarnished,  they  are  certain  to  come  to  his  relief. 
And  even  if  he  has  fallen  into  serious  errors,  there 
is  no  class  of  men  in  society  who  will  treat  his  frailties 
with  so  much  lenity,  or  be  so  ready  to  give  him  their  con 
fidence  again,  as  his  fellow-traffickers.  But  the  shame 
less  insolvent  whose  "misfortunes"  are  real  crimes, 
whose  money  is  the  wages  of  fraud,  whose  frequent 
bankruptcies  are  the  signals  of  his  subtlety  and  ava 
rice,  and  whose  very  offers  of  kindness,  often,  are  but 
piratical  lights  to  decoy  his  neighbours  upon  the 
rocks  —  this  man  can  not  expect  to  be  admitted  to 
the  fellowship  of  true  merchants.  They  may  use  his 
money  in  pressing  emergencies  when  they  can  get  no 
other,  but  they  will  be  likely  to  say  of  it,  as  has  been 
said  of  treason,  "  While  we  like  the  loan,  we  despise 
the  lender." 

The  great  importance  of  this  subject,  will  justify 
me  in  fortifying  the  views  which  have  been  expressed, 


196          THE    BIBLE    IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

by  an  eminent  authority,  quoted  in  a  former  Lec 
ture  :  — 

"  In  the  protracted  agony,  it  has  been  said,  the  greatest 
errors  are  committed.  Can  they  be  avoided  ?  Integrity  de 
mands  that  they  should,  and  it  never  demands  what  is  impos 
sible.  The  first  thing  a  man  has  to  do  in  such  circumstances, 
is  to  take  honest  counsel  with  himself;  to  state  the  case  firmly, 
to  examine  it  deliberately,  and  decide  it  justly ;  to  go  through 
with  it.  as  a  work  he  is  bound  in  conscience  to  perform  ;  not 
slightingly,  not  carelessly,  not  deceitfully,  but  thoroughly,  as 
if  he  were  upon  his  oath  to  make  a  true  inventory  and  ap 
praisement.  He  is  to  look  at  his  books,  not  to  see  the  figures 
there  set  down,  but  whether  the  value  is  what  they  represent. 
Such  a  work  is  hard,  very  hard.  Many  a  man  closes  his  eyes, 
because  he  knows  what  he  would  see  if  they  were  opened. 
He  perceives,  but  he  voluntarily  makes  his  perception  indis 
tinct,  and  persuades  himself,  or  tries  to  persuade  himself, 
that  the  truth  is  obscure,  when  he  knows  it  is  clear.  He  can 
not  plead  ignorance.  He  is  therefore  laying  up  for  himself  a 
store  of  self-reproach,  for  finally  he  will  be  compelled  to  con 
fess  that  he  sinned  against  knowledge.  The  next  thing  to  be 
done,  is  to  take  counsel  with  judicious  friends.  If  it  be  hard 
for  a  man  to  look  steadfastly  at  a  painful  and  humiliating 
truth,  still  harder  for  him  is  it  frankly  to  make  it  known  to 
others.  Yet  it  must  be  done,  if  we  would  profit  by  the  advice 
of  friends.  And  lastly,  it  is  the  duty  of  a  man  in  these  circum 
stances,  to  counsel  with  his  creditors,  for  it  is  their  interest 
that  is  to  be  dealt  with.  Safe  counsellors  they  will  be  found, 
and  generous  ones  too,  if  they  are  honestly  treated.  This 
measure,  however,  is  seldom  resorted  to,  and  in  these  few 
cases  is  too  long  postponed.  In  the  mean  time,  that  is, 


VALUE  OF  A  LEGAL  DISCHARGE.      197 

between  the  first  warning  of  coming  calamity  and  its  final 
consummation,  the  ill-directed  struggles  of  the  failing  man 
plunge  him  deeper  and  deeper  into  embarrassments  and  in 
justice.  But  we  need  not  attempt  to  follow  him.  Let  us 
only  add,  that  the  duty  of  integrity  in  such  circumstances, 
may  be  comprehended  in  a  few  words  —  a  fair  disclosure,  a 
full  surrender,  and  an  equal  distribution."* 

All  this,  we  will  now  suppose,  has  been  effected, 
and  the  debtor,  after  paying  his  creditors  the  stipu 
lated  dividend,  has  received  a  legal  discharge,  and 
is  once  more  a  free  man.  Is  he  still  morally  'bound 
for  the  residue  of  their  claims  ?  I  answer  without 
hesitation,  he  is.  The  argument  on  this  point  is 
very  short.  Why  is  a  man  bound  to  pay  his  debts  ? 
Not  simply  because  the  law  of  the  land  requires  it. 
We  might  suppose  a  company  of  emigrants  to  land 
on  a  desert  island,  and  commence  trafficking  among 
themselves,  prior  to  the  adoption  of  any  civil  consti 
tution.  Every  one  must  feel  that  they  would  be 
bound  to  fulfil  their  contracts.  There  is,  then,  a 
ground  of  obligation  underlying  all  human  legisla 
tion,  and  which  that  legislation,  in  fact,  tacitly  recog 
nizes.  Men  are  bound  to  pay  their  debts  because  it 
is  right.  The  law  of  God  requires  us  to  fulfil  our 
engagements :  to  do  what  we  have  promised  to  do. 
Legislation  may,  within  certain  limits,  prescribe  the 


*  The  lion.  John  Sergeant. 

17* 


198          THE   BIBLE    IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

methods  in  which  this  principle  shall  be  carried  into 
effect,  but  the  principle  itself  is  beyond  its  juris 
diction. 

Nor  is  it  any  sufficient  answer  to  say,  that  in  the 
case  contemplated,  the  creditors  have  voluntarily 
absolved  the  debtor  from  their  demands  against  him. 
In  one  sense,  it  is  true,  their  act  was  voluntary. 
They  compounded  with  him,  and  gave  him  a  release 
because  it  was,  under  the  circumstances,  as  they 
thought,  the  best  thing  they  could  do  for  themselves, 
and  an  act  of  kindness  towards  him.  But  it  was  not 
"  voluntary,"  if  by  this  term  it  be  intended  to  denote 
that  they  would  have  preferred  this  course  to  the 
full  liquidation  of  their  demands,  or  that  they  w^ould 
have  acceded  to  it  had  there  been  any  prospect, 
through  other  means,  of  collecting  their  dues.  They 
did  it,  as  it  were,  under  constraint,  certainly  under 
the  constraint  of  benevolent  feeling,  and  not  with 
any  admission  that  they  regarded  their  debtor  as 
having  complied  with  his  engagements.*  It  was  no 
part  of  their  design  to  discharge  his  conscience,  to 
cancel  the  moral  obligation  of  his  dues.  They  have 
simply  given  him  a  legal  acquittance.  Is  it  in  his 
power  to  change  the  essential  nature  of  this  transac 
tion,  from  a  legal  into  a  moral  absolution  ?  Can  he 

*  See  Dymond  on  this  point. 


PERMANENT    OBLIGATION    OF    DEBTS.  199 

take  advantage  of  his  own  wrong,  and  make  this  act 
of  settlement  to  mean  what  they  never  intended  it 
should  mean?  Has  he  the  authority  to  take  the 
awards  of  a  human  jurisprudence,  and  enrol  them 
among  those  moral  judgments  which  constitute  the 
unalterable  decrees  of  "heaven's  chancery"  —  to 
confound  the  dicta  of  an  earthly  magistracy,  or  the 
concessions  extorted  by  his  own  errors  or  misfortunes 
from  his  fellow-men,  with  the  decisions  of  that  august 
tribunal,  which  reflects,  in  all  its  acts,  the  inviolable 
rectitude  of  Jehovah  ?  Because  his  creditors  have 
absolved  him,  has  GOD  absolved  him  ?  Because  the 
statute-book  obliterates  his  debts  and  annuls  his 
promises,  does  the  BIBLE  discharge  him  ?  No  one 
will  maintain  this,  who  has  not  adopted  that  sordid 
theory  of  virtue,  which  makes  it  a  commodity  to  be 
bought  and  sold  at  the  shambles.  The  moral  obliga 
tion  of  a  debt  continues  until  the  debt  is  paid  in  full, 
that  is,  until  payment  is  tendered  to  the  creditor. 
If  he  sees  fit  to  decline  it,  he  may  do  so.  The  debtor 
has  discharged  his  duty  by  making  the  offer.  Hence 
forth  he  is  free  in  morals  and  in  law. 

It  is  easy  to  account  for  the  misgivings  we  may 
feel  on  finding  ourselves  impelled  towards  this  con 
clusion.  We  picture  to  ourselves  a  deserving  man, 
overtaken  by  reverses,  surrendering  his  property,  and 
discharged  by  his  creditors ;  and  it  seems  at  first 


200         THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

sight  a  hard  case  that  he  should  still  be  bound  for 
his  old  debts,  and  obliged  to  appropriate  his  future 
gains  to  their  liquidation.  And  the  picture  appeals 
to  our  sympathies  with  an  irresistible  pathos,  when 
we  reflect  that  there  are,  perhaps,  thirty  thousand* 
of  our  countrymen  in  this  situation.  Not  one  syl 
lable  shall  be  uttered  here  in  disparagement  of  the 
hardship  and  suffering  involved  in  very  many  of  these 
cases.  There  are  few  earthly  trials  more  difficult  to 
bear  than  some  which  come  in  this  shape :  to  be  in 
sensible  to  them,  were  to  be  not  more,  but  less,  than 
human.  But  principles  are  immutable.  Like  the 
magnetic  needle,  which  points  steadily  to  the  pole  in 
all  latitudes  and  in  all  weathers,  indifferent  alike  to 
the  calms  which  retard  and  the  storms  which  shatter 
the  ship,  they  are  unaffected  by  circumstances.  And 
whenever  a  people  begin  to  let  their  circumstances 
mould  their  principles,  they  will  become  speedily  de 
bauched.  It  is  in  this  way,  precisely,  that  the  com 
mercial  character  of  our  own  country  has  at  some 
periods  suffered  a  lamentable  deterioration.  To  guard 
against  this  danger,  we  must  beware  how  we  blunt 
the  public  sensibility  on  the  subject  of  bankruptcies, 
or  encourage  the  feeling  that  a  "failure"  is  a  trivial 
matter,  which  involves  the  parties  concerned  in  a  little 


*  See  the  statistics  already  cited. 


A   COMMON    CALAMITY.  201 

temporary  inconvenience,  without  producing  any  fur 
ther  ill  effects.  The  prevalence  of  this  sentiment 
would  be  far  more  disastrous  to  a  people,  than  all  the 
personal  and  social  distress  which  marks  a  commercial 
"crisis."  It  ought  to  be  felt  —  wherever  there  is  a 
healthy  mercantile  constitution,  it  is  felt  —  that  it  is 
a  very  serious  thing  for  a  house  to  fail.  Such  an 
event,  instead  of  being  reported  as  part  of  the  gossip 
of  the  day,  ought  to  send  a  thrill  through  the  whole 
community.  It  should  be  viewed  as  a  common 
calamity.  It  should  be  treated  as  an  occurrence 
affecting  more  or  less  the  interests  and  reputation  of 
the  entire  mercantile  body,  and  demanding  their  calm 
and  considerate  attention.  I  do  not  say  that  they 
should  visit  the  suspending  house  with  their  dis 
pleasure.  But  they  have  an  interest  in  knowing  how 
and  why  it  has  stopped ;  whether  through  uncontrol 
lable  misfortune  or  through  fraud  ;  whether,  by  some 
"act  of  Providence"  or  by  gross  imprudence.  And 
according  as  they  find  the  facts  to  be,  should  they 
frame  their  judgment  on  the  case  and  shape  their 
conduct. 

It  is  easy  to  perceive  how  potent  the  moral  influ 
ence  of  a  state  of  feeling  like  this  would  be  in  pre 
venting  failures.  Merchants  would  be  more  wary  of 
those  habits  and  risks  which  define  the  highway  to 
insolvency.  There  would  be  less  over-trading  and 


202          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

speculating,  less  borrowing  and  endorsing,  less  of 
regal  state  in  the  style  of  living,  and  less  extrava 
gance  among  the  wives  and  daughters.  Fewer  for 
tunes  would  be  made  in  a  day,  but  the  fortunes  that 
were  made,  would  have  some  solidity.  Fewer  men 
would  retire  "at  thirty,"  but  when  they  did  retire, 
they  would  be  apt  to  sleep  with  a  quiet  conscience. 
Fewer  families  might  revel  in  luxury,  but  those  who 
had  been  raised  to  affluence,  would  be  less  likely  to 
wake  up  of  a  morning  and  find  the  sheriff  taking  an 
inventory  of  their  gorgeous  drawing  -  rooms.  —  All 
these  and  many  kindred  results,  would  be  promoted 
by  the  prevalence  of  correct  views  on  the  subject 
of  bankruptcy.  Wherever  they  have  prevailed,  other 
prudent  maxims  have  been  combined  with  them,  and 
failures  have  been  extremely  rare.  Our  older  mer 
chants  can  recall  such  periods  in  our  own  history. 
The  annals  of  Holland  will  supply  other  examples.  No 
nation  can  point  to  a  commercial  career  so  untarnished 
as  that  of  the  Dutch.  Their  system  of  small  profits 
and  short  credits  would  not  suit  the  mercurial  energy 
of  our  countrymen ;  but,  combined  as  it  was  with  the 
most  sterling  practical  virtues,  it  conducted  them  to 
the  very  apex  of  commercial  opulence  and  renown. 
"  Failures  among  them  were  rare  even  in  so  distress 
ing  an  era  as  the  occupation  of  their  country  by  the 
French,  which  began  in  1795,  and  involved,  from  the 


INTEGRITY   OF   THE   DUTCH.  203 

outset,  a  stoppage  of  maritime  intercourse  with  all 
their  posessions  in  India  and  America.  The  conse 
quence  of  this  stoppage  was  a  decay  of  trade,  a  sus 
pension  of  various  undertakings,  a  scarcity  of  work, 
miserable  dulness  in  the  sale  of  goods ;  all  leading, 
in  the  first  instance,  to  diminished  income,  and  even 
tually  to  encroachment  on  capital :  but  amidst  this 
distress,  the  failures  were  surprisingly  few,  fewer 
indeed  than  occur  in  Britain  in  any  ordinary  season."* 
There  is  nothing  in  all  the  maritime  enterprise  and 
prosperity  of  the  Dutch,  which  reflects  so  much  hon 
our  on  them  as  facts  like  these.  And  the  extraor 
dinary  results  here  recorded,  are  to  be  ascribed  in  no 
inconsiderable  degree,  to  the  just  sentiments  they 
cherished  on  the  subject  of  bankruptcy.  If  we  would 
emulate  them  in  their  commercial  glory,  it  must  be 
by  fostering  similar  sentiments  among  our  mercantile 
classes.  We  must  do  nothing  to  subvert  the  great 
moral  principles  which  are  the  buttresses  of  all  hon 
ourable  commerce,  and  the  decay  of  which  is  the  sure 
precursor  of  embarrassment.  Among  these  principles, 
are,  the  inviolability  of  contracts,  the  permanent  ob 
ligation  of  debts,  and  the  imperative  duty  of  restrict 
ing  one's  pecuniary  engagements  to  what  would  be 
deemed,  on  a  candid  and  prudent  survey  of  things, 

*  Encyc.  Brit. 


204          THE    BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

a  just  relation  to  the  actual  capital  at  command.  A 
general  adherence  to  these  principles,  would  leave 
room  for  but  few  failures.  Most  of  the  paths  which 
lead  to  insolvency  would  be  closed  up.  The  stoppage 
of  a  house  would  produce  the  same  sensation  in  Phila 
delphia  or  New  York,  which  it  occasions  in  Amster 
dam.  And  while  the  dishonest  bankrupt  might  look 
for  general  reprehension,  men  of  real  merit,  over 
whelmed  by  misfortune,  would  experience  the  most 
generous  sympathy,  and  be  promptly  aided  in  reco 
vering  their  position. 

It  wrould  be  both  easy  and  pleasant  to  illustrate 
this  last  remark,  by  an  appeal  to  the  history  of  any 
of  our  commercial  cities.  Numerous  examples  have 
occurred,  and  are  annually  occurring,  of  mercantile 
disasters,  which  have  given  occasion  for  the  display 
of  some  of  the  noblest  qualities  which  can  dignify  our 
nature.  It  is  one  of  the  finest  moral  spectacles  ever 
presented  in  the  progress  of  social  life,  that  of  a  meri 
torious  merchant  struck  down  in  his  business  by  some 
paralyzing  blow,  which  has  left  him  penniless,  sur 
rounded  by  a  generous  band  of  creditors,  who  come, 
not  merely  to  soothe  him  with  words  of  sympathy, 
but  to  employ  their  capital  and  influence  in  retrieving 
his  misfortune  and  placing  him  on  his  feet  again. 
And  if  there  is  any  scene  which  surpasses  this  in  true 
pathos,  it  is  to  see  this  smitten  merchant,  now  restored 


THE    REGALIA   OF   COMMERCE.  205 

by  the  blessing  of  Providence  to  thrift  and  comfort, 
reassembling  his  benefactors,  and  requiting  their  mu 
nificence  by  a  cheerful  liquidation  of  all  their  claims. 
Transactions  of  this  kind  have  a  value  above  all  gold 
and  silver.  They  make  us  think  the  better  of  human 
nature.  They  belong  to  the  regalia  of  commerce. 
They  augment  the  moral  power  of  the  community 
they  adorn,  and  form,  every  one  of  them,  a  glorious 
cynosure  to  the  tribes  of  youth  who  are  pressing  on 
amidst  the  conflicts  and  perils  of  a  business-life. 

This  discussion  will  hardly  be  deemed  unseasonable 
at  a  period  when  the  unparalleled  prosperity  of  the 
country  is  alluring  so  many  persons  into  the  very 
practices  we  have  been  censuring.  A  philosophical 
French  writer  has  observed,  that  "  the  whole  life  of 
an  American  is  passed  like  a  game  of  chance,  a  revo 
lutionary  crisis,  or  a  battle."  This  is  no  inapt  de 
scription  of  the  present  state  of  the  country.  The 
tendencies  to  inordinate  speculation  in  real  estate, 
stocks,  merchandize,  and  other  commodities,  are  too 
palpable  to  be  mistaken.  New  schemes  are  broached 
with  a  facility  and  an  assurance  which  would  not 
have  discredited  the  memorable  era  of  '37.  Of  these, 
some  doubtless  have  a  substantial  basis,  while  others 
rest  upon  thin  air ;  and  the  last  are  at  such  junctures 
quite  as  likely  to  take  as  the  first.  The  adventurers 
18 


206          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

who  manage  them,  are  never  lacking  in  effrontery  or 
tact.  They  know  under  what  auspices  to  propound 
a  project,  and  how  to  conciliate  in  its  favour  a  com 
munity  already  inflamed  with  the  fever  of  speculation. 
They  put  in  requisition  the  whole  machinery  of  pri 
vate  circulars,  newspaper  laudations,  telegraphic  des 
patches,  combinations,  fictitious  sales,  and  other  ap 
pliances  ;  and  thus 

"  With  air  and  empty  names  beguile  the  town, 
And  raise  new  credits  first,  then  cry  >em  down ; 
Divide  the  empty  nothing  into  shares, 
And  set  the  crowd  together  by  the  ears." 

The  signs  of  the  times  forebode  an  approaching 
crash.  It  may  not  come  next  week,  nor  next  year. 
But  if  the  present  inflation  of  prices  continues,  and 
wealth  bewitches  all  classes  with  its  sorceries,  and 
speculation  runs  riot  through  the  land,  the  catastrophe 
must  come.  Let  it  be  impressed  upon  your  minds, 
then,  that  this  is  the  season  of  danger.  It  is  at  such 
periods  that,  u  by  little  and  little,  circumspection 
gives  way  to  the  desire  and  emulous  ambition  of 
doing  business,  till,  impatience  and  incaution  on  one 
side,  tempting  and  encouraging  headlong  adventure, 
want  of  principle  and  confederacies  of  false  credit  on 
the  other,  the  movements  of  trade  become  yearly 
gayer  and  giddier,  and  end  at  length  in  a  vortex  of 


THE  ONLY  SURE  EQUIPMENT.        207 

hopes  and  hazards,  of  blinding  passions  and  blind 
practices,  which  should  have  been  left,  where  alone 
they  ought  ever  to  have  been  found,  among  the 
wicked  lunacies  of  the  gaming-table."* 

If  you  would  escape  these  calamities,  you  must 
stand  by  your  principles  now.  And  those  principles 
must  be  drawn  from  the  WORD  OF  GOD,  and  written 
by  his  own  finger  upon  your  hearts.  There  is  no 
other  adequate  safeguard  for  you.  Human  wisdom 
cannot  cope  with  the  insidious  dangers  which  beset 
you.  Human  virtue  is  too  weak  to  stand  before 
them.  If  they  imperilled  your  property  merely,  it 
were  of  less  moment.  If  they  put  in  jeopardy  your 
reputation  or  your  lives,  even  this  might  be  borne. 
But  they  threaten,  with  the  blasting  of  all  your 
earthly  prospects,  to  destroy  your  souls  —  to  "  DROWN 

YOU   IN   DESTRUCTION   AND   PERDITION!"      This   it   IS 

which  makes  your  situation  so  fearful,  and  which 
invests  with  such  transcendent  importance,  the  de 
mands  of  the  BIBLE  upon  your  instant  and  lasting 
homage.  Open  your  hearts  to  the  devout  and  grate 
ful  reception  of  the  precious  truth,  that  "  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,"  and  a 
new  passion  will  spring  up  within  you  capable  of 
subordinating  to  itself  every  adverse  sentiment  and 

*  Coleridge. 


208          THE    BIBLE    IN    THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

habit.  Clad  in  the  panoply  of  the  Gospel,  you  will 
have  the  best  possible  protection  against  the  dangers, 
and  the  only  adequate  support  under  the  trials,  of  a 
business-life.  Difficulties  and  losses  you  may  still 
encounter  ;  but  you  will  be  sustained  by  an  Almighty 
arm,  and  cheered  by  the  prospect  of  acceding  in  the 
end  to  a  crown  of  glory  and  a  kingdom  which  shall 
never  be  moved. 


DIFFERENT   PHASES    OF   COMMERCE.  209 


PRINCIPALS   AND   CLERKS. 

THERE  are  two  very  different  aspects  in  which  a 
great  mercantile  establishment  may  be  contemplated. 
You  may  enter  one  of  these  establishments,  and  as 
you  pass  from  room  to  room  and  loft  to  loft,  and 
survey  the  enormous  piles  of  goods,  the  regiment  of 
clerks,  porters,  and  packers,  the  throng  of  customers, 
the  activity  and  commotion  and  amicable  strife  of 
tongues,  which  meet  you  on  every  side,  your  whole 
impression  of  the  scene  may  concentrate  in  the  feel 
ing  —  "  What  a  display  of  enterprise  !  What  a  gen 
erous  capital !  What  a  thriving  business  !"  While 
the  friend  who  is  at  your  side,  with  far  other  eyes 
penetrating  the  materialism  of  the  spectacle,  may  be 
wholly  engrossed  with  the  reflection,  "What  a  school 
is  this  for  the  training  of  the  heart !  How  rapidly 
must  the  tenantry  of  this  busy  hive,  principals  and 
subordinates  of  every  grade,  be  ripening  for  glory  or 
for  shame  !"  These  views  are  not  incompatible  :  one 
18* 


210          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

does  not  necessarily  exclude  the  other.  But  with 
very  many  merchants,  unfortunately,  the  secular  quite 
neutralizes  and  absorbs  the  spiritual  view.  It  is  the 
habit  of  the  commercial  world  to  look  at  the  little 
community  which  peoples  one  of  these  great  ware 
houses  in  its  exclusively  business  relations.  The  tie 
which  binds  the  inmates  together,  is  simply  a  tie  of 
convenience  or  of  interest.  The  principal  employs  the 
requisite  staff  of  men  to  do  his  work :  the  work  is  done, 
and  they  receive  their  wages  :  and  this  is  the  whole  of 
it.  But  if  the  BIBLE  is  to  have  a  voice  in  the  mat 
ter,  there  must  be  elements  recognized  in  the  organ 
ization  which  impress  upon  it  a  much  higher  charac 
ter.  You  cannot,  with  "the  law  and  the  testimony" 
in  your  hands,  sink  the  man  in  the  merchant.  There 
is  nothing  in  your  avocation  to  absolve  you  from  such 
divine  enactments  as  these  :  —  "  Whether,  therefore, 
ye  eat  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  to  the 
glory  of  God."  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as 
thyself."  "As  we  have,  therefore,  opportunity,  let 
us  do  good  unto  all  men."  "  To  him  that  knoweth 
to  do  good  and  doeth  it  not,  to  him  it  is  sin." 
These  precepts  are  as  binding  in  the  Counting-room 
as  in  the  homestead ;  in  your  commercial,  as  in  your 
domestic,  households.  And  if  you  will  but  allow 
them  their  just  weight,  they  will  impregnate  your 
trafficking  with  a  leaven  of  righteousness,  and  make 


RESPONSIBILITY   OF   PRINCIPALS.  211 

it  no  less  a  ministration  of  usefulness  than  a  means 
of  wealth. 

It  will  be  no  strange  thing,  if  this  should  prove,  to 
many  merchants,  an  unwelcome  topic.  The  idea  of 
assuming  a  responsibility  over  the  moral  training  of 
their  subordinates,  has  scarcely  occurred  to  them. 
They  have  cares  and  anxieties  enough  already :  how 
can  they  find  time  to  look  after  the  morals  of  their 
young  men  ?  —  But  let  it  abate  the  displeasure  awa 
kened  by  this  suggestion,  to  reflect  that  you  are 
moulding  the  characters  of  these  young  men,  whether 
you  will  or  not.  Providence  has  placed  them,  for 
the  time  being,  under  your  roof,  and  you  are  shaping 
their  principles.  They  will  no  more  leave  your  estab 
lishment  as  they  entered  it,  than  your  sons  will  come 
home  from  Yale  or  Princeton,  the  same  unsophisti 
cated  youths  they  were  when  their  mother,  four  years 
ago,  imprinted  her  farewell  kiss  upon  their  cheeks, 
and  sent  them  forth  to  share  the  advantages  and  the 
dangers  of  a  college-life.  The  process  of  education 
is  going  on  in  the  one  case  with  as  little  interruption 
as  in  the  other ;  and  the  question  for  you  to  ponder, 
is,  not  whether  you  will  direct  this  process  in  your 
counting-house,  but  how  you  will  direct  it. 

And  here  it  is  very  affecting  to  consider  how  many 
mercantile  firms  there  are,  under  whose  administra 
tion  the  wholesome  principles  which  the  young  men 


212          THE    BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

in  their  employ  brought  with  them  from  their  homes, 
undergo  a  sad  deterioration.  It  is  not  that  these 
firms  have  any  deliberate  purpose  of  corrupting  the 
morals  of  their  clerks;  but  the  commodious  virtue 
which  presides  in  their  warehouses,  makes  this  result 
unavoidable.  "  You  must  assuredly  know  that  a  cer 
tain  quantity  of  what  has  been  called  shuffling,  has 
been  introduced  into  the  communications  of  the 
trading- world  —  insomuch  that  the  simplicity  of  yea, 
yea,  and  nay,  nay,  is  in  some  degree  exploded ;  there 
is  a  kind  of  understood  toleration  established  for  cer 
tain  modes  of  expression,  which  could  not,  we  are 
much  afraid,  stand  the  rigid  scrutiny  of  the  great 
day ;  and  there  is  an  abatement  of  confidence  between 
man  and  man,  implying,  we  doubt,  such  a  propor 
tionate  abatement  of  truth  as  goes  to  extend  most 
fearfully  the  condemnation  that  is  due  to  all  liars, 
who  shall  have  their  part  in  the  lake  that  burneth 
with  fire  and  brimstone.  And  who  can  compute  the 
effect  of  all  this  on  the  young  and  yet  unpractised 
observer?  Who  does  not  see,  that  it  must  go  to 
reduce  the  tone  of  his  principles ;  and  to  involve  him 
in  many  a  delicate  struggle  between  the  morality  he 
has  learned  from  his  catechism  and  the  morality  he 
sees  in  the  counting-house ;  and  to  obliterate,  in  his 
mind,  the  distinctions  between  right  and  wrong ;  and 
at  length,  to  reconcile  his  conscience  to  a  sin  which, 


THE   DOWNWARD    PROCESS.  213 

like  every  other,  deserves  tlie  wrath  and  curse  of 
God ;  and  to  make  him  tamper  with  a  direct  com 
mandment  in  such  a  way,  as  that  falsehoods  and 
frauds  might  be  nothing  more,  in  his  estimation,  than 
the  peccadilloes  of  an  innocent  compliance  with  the 
practices  and  moralities  of  the  world?"  *  The  first 
stage  in  this  downward  process,  is,  to  familiarize  the 
mind  of  a  youth  with  the  conventional  deceptions  of 
trade  —  with  its  flexible  dialect  and  its  equivocal 
usages.  Then  let  him  begin  to  practise  these  lessons 
himself.  And,  finally,  let  him  undertake,  as  he  will 
be  prepared  to  do,  to  initiate  his  juniors  into  the 
mysteries  of  this  artificial  code,  under  which  words 
are  no  longer  the  signs  of  ideas,  and  veracity  becomes 
a  mere  item  of  the  Price-Current.  This  point  attained, 
and  he  will  be  qualified  to  assume  the  functions 
of  a  principal,  and  direct  the  moral  training  of  as 
large  a  corps  of  clerks  as  his  own  business  may 
require. 

I  come  at  once  to  this  topic,  because  it  is  no  part 
of  my  plan  to  discuss  in  detail  the  reciprocal  duties 
appertaining  to  this  relation.  I  cannot,  for  example, 
enlarge  on  the  subject  of  wages  —  a  very  important 
subject  surely,  and  one  which  it  belongs  to  the  char 
acter  of  a  true  merchant  to  consider  and  adjust,  with 

*  Dr.  Chalmers. 


214          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

the  utmost  prudence  and  liberality.  "  The  labourer 
is  worthy  of  his  hire."  And  if  there  are  firms  which 
requite  the  services  of  faithful  and  diligent  clerks 
with  a  reluctant  and  niggard  compensation  —  a  com 
pensation  below  the  usual  tariff  of  salaries  and  quite 
disproportionate  to  their  business  —  such  firms  would 
do  well  to  ponder  that  apostolic  monition,  "  Behold, 
the  hire  of  the  labourers  who  have  reaped  down  your 
fields,  which  is  of  you  kept  back  by  fraud,  crieth : 
and  the  cries  of  them  which  have  reaped,  are  entered 
into  the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth."  (James  5:  4.) 
It  is  in  allusion  to  the  context  of  this  passage,  that 
Fuller,  the  quaint  historian,  says,  "  The  same  word 
in  the  Greek  (7og)  signifies  rust  and  poison ;  and  some 
strong  poison  is  made  of  the  rust  of  metals,  but  none 
more  venomous  than  the  rust  of  money,  in  the  rich 
man's  purse,  unjustly  detained  from  the  labourer, 
which  will  poison  and  infect  his  whole  estate."  — 
It  is  undoubtedly  good  policy,  as  well  as  sound  prin 
ciple,  to  pay  the  full  stipends  prescribed  by  general 
custom,  augmenting  them,  from  time  to  time,  accord 
ing  to  some  equitable  scale,  and  rewarding  signal 
merit  with  appropriate  testimonials.  To  do  this 
wisely,  a  merchant  will  require  to  keep  his  eye  upon 
the  persons  in  his  employ.  Indeed,  it  will  be  both 
to  his  credit  and  his  advantage,  to  note  the  peculiar 
traits  of  each  one  of  his  clerks  —  their  faults,  their 


LAFITTE.  215 

virtues,  their  habits,  their  adaptations,  and  everything 
pertaining  to  them.  If  he  is  a  good  judge  of  char 
acter,  he  will  soon  learn  what  they  are  from  those 
little  things  which  are  apt  to  be  deemed  of  no  account. 
It  is  said  that  the  fortune  of  M.  Lafitte,  the  opulent 
French  banker,  was  made  by  his  picking  up  a  pin. 
Arriving  in  Paris  (A.  D.  1788),  a  young  provincial, 
poor,  modest,  and  timid,  he  called  with  a  letter  of 
introduction  upon  M.  Perregeaux,  an  influential  Swiss 
banker.  "  It  is  impossible  for  me,"  said  Monsieur  P. 
to  him,  "  to  admit  you  into  my  establishment,  at  least 
for  the  present ;  all  my  offices  have  their  complement. 
If  I  require  any  one  at  a  future  time,  I  will  see  what 
can  be  done."  Turning  away  with  a  downcast  look, 
as  the  disappointed  youth  traversed  the  court-yard, 
he  stooped  to  pick  up  a  pin,  which  he  stuck  in  the 
lappel  of  his  coat.  The  banker  was  watching  him 
from  the  window  of  his  cabinet,  and  with  a  sagacious 
eye,  not  unaided,  we  may  suppose,  by  the  previous 
interview,  saw  in  this  trivial  occurrence  the  index  of 
qualities  which  a  financier  would  know  how  to  appre 
ciate.  That  evening,  young  Lafitte  received  from 
M.  Perregeaux  a  note  to  the  following  effect :  — 

"A  place  is  made  for  you  in  ray  office,  which  you  may 
take  possession  of  to-morrow  morning." 

The  banker  was  not  deceived.    From  simple  clerk, 


216          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

Lafitte  soon  rose  to  be  cashier,  then  partner,  then 
head  of  the  first  banking-house  in  Paris;  and  after 
wards,  in  rapid  succession,  a  Deputy,  and  President 
of  the  Council  of  Ministers,  the  highest  point  to 
which  a  citizen  can  aspire.  And  what  is  still  more 
to  his  honour,  he  was  a  generous  friend  to  the  needy 
and  unfortunate,  and  employed  his  princely  wealth 
in  doing  good.* 

These  are  large  results  to  flow  from  the  picking 
up  of  a  pin.  And  the  narrative,  suggestive  as  it 
must  be  to  every  thoughtful  clerk,  may  illustrate  the 
importance  of  a  merchant's  observing  closely  the 
characters  of  the  young  men  he  has  gathered  around 
him. 

Another  topic  on  which  it  might  be  pertinent  to 
dwell,  is,  the  proper  carriage  of  a  principal  towards 
his  clerks.  The  Counting-House  is  no  less  a  school 
of  manners  and  temper,  than  a  school  of  morals. 
Vulgarity,  imperiousness,  peevishness,  caprice,  on  the 
part  of  the  heads,  will  produce  their  corresponding 
effects  upon  the  household.  Some  merchants  are 
petty  tyrants.  Some  are  too  surly  to  be  fit  for  any 
charge,  unless  it  be  that  of  taming  a  shrew.  The 
coarseness  of  others,  in  manner  and  language,  must 
either  disgust  or  contaminate  all  their  subordinates. 


*  Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine. 


VALUE   OF    SUNSHINE.  217 

In  one  establishment  you  will  encounter  an  unmanly 
levity,  which  precludes  all  discipline.  In  another,  a 
mock  dignity,  which  supplies  the  juveniles  with  a 
standing  theme  of  ridicule.  In  a  third,  a  capricious- 
ness  of  mood  and  temper,  which  reminds  one  of  the 
prophetic  hints  of  the  weather  in  the  old  almanacs  — 
"  windy"  —  "  cool" — "  very  pleasant" — "  blustering" 
—  "  look  out  for  storms"  —  and  the  like.  And  in  a 
fourth,  a  selfish  acerbity,  which  exacts  the  most  un 
reasonable  services,  and  never  cheers  a  clerk  with  a 
word  of  encouragement.  —  These  are  sad  infirmities. 
Men  ought  not  to  have  clerks  until  they  know  how 
to  treat  them.  Their  own  comfort,  too,  would  be 
greatly  enhanced  by  a  different  deportment.  In 
turning  over  a  magazine,  my  eye  once  fell  upon  a 
paragraph  headed,  "  The  Daily  Value  of  Sunshine." 
I  was  at  a  loss  to  conjecture  what  this  could  mean. 
On  reading  it,  I  found  that  the  writer  had  employed 
his  ingenuity  in  calculating  the  average  pecuniary 
value  of  each  day  in  ripening  the  crops  of  the  United 
States.  Thus,  suppose  the  aggregate  worth  of  these 
crops  to  be  $500,000,000  annually,  as  the  thorough 
maturing  of  them  depends  essentially  on  the  sunshine 
of  the  four  warmest  months,  its  daily  value  must  be 
about  four  millions  of  dollars.  It  instantly  occurred 
to  me  to  ask,  if  sunshine  in  the  fields  is  worth  four 
millions,  what  would  its  daily  value  be  in  all  the 
19 


218          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

Oounting-Houses  of  the  United  States?  It  might 
require  an  adept  in  the  higher  calculus  to  solve  this 
sum,  but  I  apprehend  there  are  clerks  in  some  estab 
lishments  who  would  set  about  it  with  some  feeling. 
Certain  it  is,  that  there  is  the  greatest  possible  differ 
ence  in  the  working  of  establishments,  the  heads  of 
which  are  men  of  a  serene  temper,  whose  cheerful 
and  friendly  manner  inspirits  all  their  subalterns, 
and  those  which  are  managed  with  a  cold  reserve  or 
a  petulance  which  extinguishes  all  vivacity,  and  adds 
fresh  clogs  to  the  leaden  feet  of  labour.  A  wise 
merchant  even  from  policy,  and  a  Christian  merchant 
from  principle,  will  keep  all  the  sunshine  they  can  in 
their  counting-rooms. 

But  I  am  wandering  from  the  higher  theme,  the 
morals  of  this  relation.  Points  of  casuistry  are  some 
times  obscured  by  unessential  concomitants.  Let  us 
transfer  the  morality  of  trade  to  another  theatre.  — 
You  return  from  your  store,  we  wTill  suppose,  of  an 
evening,  and,  sitting  down  in  your  Library,  hear  your 
son  in  the  adjoining  parlour  describing  to  some  inqui 
sitive  visitor  various  objects  of  utility  or  fancy  de 
posited  there.  "  These  lounges,  sir,"  (he  might  say,) 
"  which  are  of  a  novel  pattern,  were  made  in  Boston. 
The  lustres  are  from  the  ancient  glass-manufactory 
on  the  island  of  Murano,  near  Venice.  This  mosaic 
table  my  father  ordered  on  his  last  visit  to  Florence : 


DIALECT   OF   TRADE,    IX   THE   PARLOUR.        219 

it  cost  him  a  thousand  dollars.  That  beautiful  water- 
scene  which  you  admire  so  much,  was  painted  for  him 
by  Horace  Vernet,  at  an  expense  of  seven  hundred 
dollars.  It  is  the  only  painting  we  have  in  the  house ; 
as  my  father  does  not  choose  to  have  his  walls  dis 
figured  with  mere  daubs.  This  ivory  cabinet  from 
China  is  the  only  one  of  the  kind  ever  sent  to  this 
country."  And  so,  he  might  go  on  until  the  cata 
logue  was  finished.  On  the  departure  of  his  guest, 
your  son  comes  to  you,  and  you  meet  him  with  an 
outburst  of  surprise  and  displeasure.  "  How  was  it 
possible,  sir,  for  you  to  tell  that  gentleman  so  many 
lies  ?  You  know  very  well  that  you  have  given  him 
an  incorrect  account  of  these  articles.  The  lounges 
were  made  in  Chestnut  street.  The  lustres  are  from 
New  England.  The  table  is  from  Matlock,  and  cost 
a  hundred  dollars.  The  painting  was  by  Cole ;  I 
paid  him  three  hundred  dollars  for  it :  and  besides, 
there  are  a  dozen  other  paintings  up-stairs.  And  as 
to  the  cabinet,  the  Chinese  send  them  here  by  scores. 
How  could  you  utter  such  falsehoods?"  "Father," 
we  may  suppose  this  promising  son  to  reply,  "  why 
do  you  speak  so  harshly  to  me  ?  I  have  done  nothing 
but  what  we  are  constantly  doing  at  the  store,  and  I 
had  no  reason  to  believe  that  you  disapproved  of  it. 
I  knew  that  this  stranger  was  not  a  judge  of  these 
objects,  and  that  it  would  greatly  enhance  not  only 


220          THE    BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING -HOUSE. 

his  astonishment,  but  his  pleasure,  to  be  told  these, 
wonderful  tales  about  them.  Wherein  does  this  differ 
in  principle  from  our  customs  at  the  counting-house  ? 
For  example,  we  clerks  are  sometimes  directed  to  put 
French  labels  on  English  goods.  We  sell  American 
cloths  for  English  — just  as  good,  no  doubt,  but  still 
they  never  saw  England.  We  are  not  reproved  for 
calling  old  goods  the  '  newest  styles,'  nor  for  telling 
a  man  that  the  piece  he  is  looking  at,  is  the  only  one 
we  have  in  the  store,  or  the  only  sample  which  has 
been  brought  to  the  city.  If  an  article  cost  twenty- 
five  dollars  a  bale,  we  do  not  think  it  wrong,  in  traf 
ficking,  to  say  it  cost  thirty  —  which  is  only  five 
more.  We  are  in  the  habit  of  saying  that  goods  are 
'  all  woollen'  or  '  all  silk,'  when  there  may  possibly 
be  a  little  cotton  in  them.  And  we  take  it  for  granted 
this  sort  of  dialect  is  justifiable,  because  we  have  ob 
served  that  the  members  of  the  firm  do  not  avoid  it 
in  their  intercourse  with  customers.  Why,  then,  should 
I  not  talk  at  home  as  I  do  at  the  ware-rooms  ?  Cer 
tainly  you  will  not  say  that  a  mode  of  speaking  which 
is  wrong  in  Walnut  street,  may  be  right  in  Market 
street ;  or  that  there  is  one  system  of  morality  for 
business,  and  another  for  domestic  life  ?  Indeed,  it 
strikes  me,  that  of  the  two,  there  is  less  harm  in 
dealing  in  a  little  exaggeration  at  home  than  at  the 
counting-house;  because  here  we  do  it  simply  to 


THE   MORAL   LAW,   NO    PHANTASM.  221 

increase  the  pleasure  of  our  friends  and  make  their 
time  pass  agreeably ;  whereas  we  employ  it  there  to 
get  money  out  of  our  customers." 

Such  might  be  your  son's  vindication  of  himself. 
And  I  confess,  I  do  not  very  well  see  how  it  could 
be  refuted.  In  any  event,  I  should  be  sorry  to  have 
the  task  of  answering  him,  devolved  upon  me.  For 
I  can  imagine  nothing  more  embarrassing  to  a  casuist, 
than  to  be  called  upon  to  prove  that  the  law  delivered 
in  the  midst  of  that  majestic  scene  at  Sinai,  is,  after 
all,  nothing  but  a  mere  "dissolving  view,"  which 
vanishes  into  a  totally  different  thing  as  a  man  passes 
from  his  dwelling-house  to  his  counting-room. 

The  idea  of  so  reforming  the  vocabulary  of  trade 
as  to  make  it  harmonize  with  the  only  true  standard, 
may  appear  to  some  persons  very  chimerical.  But 
there  are  many  firms  whose  example  goes  to  dispel 
the  mischievous  delusion,  that  some  measure  of  fraud 
and  falsehood  is  necessary  to  the  successful  prose 
cution  of  business.  With  these  houses,  it  would  be  a 
grave  offence  for  a  clerk  to  tell  a  lie.  And  as  to 
encouraging  them  in  this  practice,  they  would  sooner 
abandon  business  altogether  than  do  it.  They  would 
regard  it  as  a  crime  to  tamper  with  the  conscience  of 
an  ingenuous  youth  who  had  been  confided  for  the 
time  to  their  guardianship.  It  were  no  trivial  wrong, 
to  deny  him  the  proper  facilities  for  obtaining  a 
19* 


222          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

knowledge  of  the  business,  or  to  refuse  him  an  equit 
able  compensation  for  his  services.  But  deliberately 
to  subvert  his  moral  principles,  by  teaching  him  to 
ignore  all  distinction  between  truth  and  falsehood,  is 
an  atrocity  they  would  shrink  from  as  they  would 
from  putting  the  drunkard's  cup  in  his  hands.*  And 
they  are  right.  Among  all  the  contents  of  their 
spacious  warehouses,  and  all  the  interests  committed 
to  their  management,  there  are  none  of  higher  value, 
none  for  their  treatment  of  which  they  will  be  held 
to  a  more  rigid  responsibility,  than  the  consciences 
of  these  young  men.  Let  them  beware  how  they 
neglect  or  abuse  so  sacred  a  deposit. 

This  caution  may  be  extended  further.  There  is 
one  practice,  in  particular,  very  current,  as  it  is 
alleged,  in  our  commercial  cities,  which  deserves  to 
be  noticed  in  this  connection.  I  have  been  repeat 
edly  requested  to  speak  of  it  in  these  Lectures,  and 
the  impressions  which  prevail  about  it  are  of  the  most 
decided  and  painful  character.  The  following  com 
munication  has  been  sent  to  me  on  the  subject :  — 


*  I  am  acquainted  with  a  most  estimable  gentleman  in  this 
city,  who  was  dismissed  from  a  clerkship  some  years  ago, 
because  he  positively  refused  to  tell  a  lie  on  his  employer's 
requiring  him  to  do  it.  The  principal  broke,  and  went  to 
ruin :  the  clerk  is  now  a  successful  and  honoured  merchant. 


DRUMMING.  223 

PHILADELPHIA,  Feb.  21,  1853. 
To  the  REV.  DR.  BOARDMAN. 

Dear  Sir: — Will  you  allow  an  auditor  to  ask  your  atten 
tion  to  a  certain  usage  of  commercial  men,  with  the  hope  that 
it  will  not  be  passed  in  silence  in  your  public  Lectures.  The 
allusion  is  to  what  in  professional  cant,  is  called  drumming 
or  boring.  A  young  man,  on  entering  into  the  service  of  a 
commercial  house,  soon  learns  that  his  compensation,  encour 
agement,  and  aid,  from  the  the  firm,  will  depend,  not  merely 
upon  his  urbanity,  activity,  and  address,  as  a  salesman,  but, 
in  an  equal  or  greater  degree,  upon  his  success  in  drawing 
custom  to  the  house.  This  requires  him,  when  the  business 
of  the  day  is  closed,  to  resort  to  places  of  entertainment  with 
strangers  and  acquaintances  who  come  to  the  city  for  trade. 
To  mature  a  mercenary  acquaintance  and  secure  his  custom, 
he  calls  to  his  aid  the  cigar  and  the  social  glass,  and  tarries 
long,  it  may  be,  at  the  wine ;  he  goes  in  company  with  him 
to  places  of  public  amusement,  or  pilots  the  unprincipled 
stranger  to  more  hidden  scenes  of  vice.  In  this  service,  a 
young  man  soon  learns  to  put  away  a  good  conscience  from 
him,  and  barters  his  fair  fame  and  his  immortal  interests  for 
the  poor  profits  of  another's  unrighteous  gain. 

This  evil  may  be  illustrated  by  a  single  example.  Some 
time  since,  a  young  man  in  one  of  our  large  cities  fell  under 
the  censure  of  his  employer,  when  he  returned  upon  his  re 
prover  this  terrible  retort:  — "  Sir,  I  came  into  your  service 
uncorrupt  in.  principles  and  in  morals.  But  the  rules  of  your 
house  required  me  to  spend  my  evenings  at  places  of  public 
entertainment  and  amusement,  in  search  of  customers.  To 
accomplish  my  work  in  your  service,  I  was  obliged  to  drink 
with  them,  and  join  with  them  in  their  pursuit  of  pleasure. 


224          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

It  was  not  my  choice,  but  the  rule  of  the  house.  I  went  with 
them  to  the  theatre  and  to  the  billiard  table :  but  it  was  not 
my  choice.  I  did  not  wish  to  go  ;  I  went  in  your  service.  It 
was  not  my  pleasure  so  to  do ;  but  I  was  the  conductor  and 
companion  of  '  the  simple  ones/  void  alike  of  understanding 
and  of  principle,  in  their  sinful  pleasures  and  deeds  of  deeper 
darkness,  that  I  might  retain  them  as  your  customers.  Your 
interest  required  it.  I  have  added  thousands  of  dollars  to 
the  profits  of  your  trade,  but  at  what  expense  you  now  see, 
and  I  know  too  well.  You  have  become  wealthy :  but  I  am 
poor  indeed.  And  now  this  cruel  dismissal  from  your  employ, 
is  the  recompense  I  receive,  for  a  character  ruined  and  pros 
pects  blasted,  in  helping  to  make  you  a  rich  man  1" 

This  may  be  an  extreme  case ;  but  of  the  multitudes  who 
crowd  our  hotels  and  hover  around  the  places  of  public  resort 
as  drummers  for  their  respective  houses  in  the  season  of  active 
trade,  who  can  doubt  that  many  are  led  into  temptation,  and 
drawn  unto  death,  encouraged  by  the  principal,  who,  if 
he  does  not  directly  require  the  service,  smiles  approbation, 
with  a  masterly  unconsciousness  respecting  the  iniquitous 
means  by  which  his  trade  is  increased. 

Very  respectfully,  yours, . 

This  letter  may  serve  both  for  text  and  commen 
tary.  It  is  not  for  me  to  say  how  far  the  usage  pre 
vails,  of  which  it  speaks,  nor  to  what  extent  its  details 
are  sanctioned  by  the  mercantile  body.  Among  the 
expedients  for  increasing  custom,  generated  by  the 
competition  and  enterprise  of  the  times,  it  is  not, 
perhaps,  surprising  that  young  men,  answering  to  the 
"commercial  travellers"  of  some  of  the  European 


USE   AND   ABUSE    OF   THE    PRINCIPLE.  225 

countries,  should  be  sent  out  to  traverse  our  distant 
States,  and  that  others  should  be  charged  with  the 
duty  of  waiting  on  merchants  from  abroad  as  they 
arrive  in  the  great  cities.  In  themselves  considered, 
these  practices  involve  no  principle  of  morals,  and 
every  merchant  must  judge  for  himself  as  to  the 
expediency  of  adopting  them,  or  either  of  them.  But 
the  latter  of  them  is  clearly  liable  to  great  abuse ; 
and  if  we  may  credit  what  we  hear,  is  actually  abused, 
to  an  extent  which  demands  the  serious  attention  of 
the  entire  mercantile  profession. 

I  shall  not  be  deemed  to  take  ground  adverse  to 
commercial  tact  and  vigilance,  if  I  maintain,  that  any 
system  of  which  the  case  presented  in  the  letter  just 
quoted  may  be  regarded  as  a  fair  exposition,  must  be 
radically  wrong.  If  any  one  chooses  to  assert  the 
indefeasible  right  of  a  city  jobber  to  employ  young 
men  in  "  boring"  country  merchants,  it  would  be 
quite  absurd  to  argue  that  question  here.  So  the 
country  merchants  are  willing  to  be  "bored,"  it  were 
very  officious  in  a  third  party  to  come  in  and  say 
they  should  not  be  gratified.  But  I  venture  to  take 
my  stand  between  these  young  men  and  their  princi 
pals,  and  to  say,  that  you  have  no  right  to  commis 
sion  them  to  use  such  arts  as  the  letter  sets  forth, 
for  the  purpose  of  bringing  customers  to  your  stores. 
Nor  (that  I  may  forestall  any  evasion  of  this  proposi- 


226          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

tlon)  have  you  a  right  to  connive  at  their  doing  the 
things  which  are  therein  described.  It  will  not  avail 
to  say,  "  I  have  never  instructed  my  salesmen  to 
'  drink'  with  strangers,  and  take  them  to  the  theatre 
and  other  places  of  vicious  amusement."  Salesmen 
may  not  be  "instructed"  on  this  head  at  all;  but 
unless  the  public  are  at  fault,  they  rarely  engage 
in  these  practices,  that  their  principals  do  not  know 
of  it,  and  too  commonly  they  are  supplied  with 
extra  funds  for  the  very  purpose.  I  see  no  differ 
ence  in  morals  between  sanctioning  the  thing  di 
rectly,  and  winking  at  it.*  —  Nor  is  it  any  justifica 
tion,  to  urge,  that  strangers  naturally  wish  to  par 
ticipate  in  the  amusements  of  a  large  city,  and  it  is 
but  common  courtesy  to  supply  them  with  a  guide. 
Of  the  abstract  right  of  strangers  or  citizens  to  sus 
tain  such  amusements  as  are  contemplated  in  these 
remarks,  I  shall  not  now  speak.  They  have  their 
own  responsibility  in  the  premises :  let  them  see  to 
that.  But  whence  comes  your  obligation,  or  even 
your  authority,  to  send,  or  theirs  to  employ,  your 

*  A  gentleman  of  New  York  who  heard  this  Lecture,  sub 
sequently  stated  to  the  author,  that  he  knew  of  houses  in 
that  city,  claiming  to  stand  in  the  first  rank  as  honourable 
firms,  which  kept  a  private  money-drawer  from  which  the 
clerks  supplied  themselves  with  funds  to  be  expended  in  the 
manner  described  in  the  text. 


A  HUMAN  SACRIFICE.  227 

clerks  on  this  business  ?  If  you  choose  to  go  your 
selves,  very  well.  I  do  not  say  that  you  would  be 
innocent,  but  you  would  escape  the  criminality  which 
attaches  to  the  existing  usage.  "  Criminality,"  I 
say ;  and  I  mean  it.  Take  the  example  in  the  letter. 
Can  there  be  two  opinions  as  to  the  criminality  of 
that  firm  ?  "  To  accomplish  my  work  in  your  ser 
vice,  I  was  obliged  to  drink  with  them,  and  join  with 
them  in  their  pursuit  of  pleasure.  It  was  not  my 
choice,  but  the  will  of  the  house.  I  went  with  them 
to  the  theatre  and  to  the  billiard-table :  but  it  was 
not  my  choice  ;  I  did  not  wish  to  go  :  I  went  in  your 
service." — Why,  if  you  could  poll  the  civilized  world, 
you  would  have  a  verdict  of  guilty  pronounced  against 
them  by  acclamation.  The  ruin  of  their  clerk  lies  at 
their  door.  They  thrust  him  into  a  thicket  of  tempt 
ations,  which  they  had  every  reason  to  believe  would 
destroy  him.  They  knew  what  was  the  common  re 
sult  of  the  career  in  wThich  they  started  him.  Tens 
of  thousands  of  young  men  in  their  own  city,  had 
gone  to  destruction  in  the  same  way :  how  was  he  to 
escape  ?  This,  unhappily,  was  not  the  question  with 
them.  They  wanted  customers  ;  and  if  customers  can 
be  got  by  offering  up  to  Mammon,  one  of  their  clerks, 
the  son  possibly  of  a  widowed  mother,  they  are  will 
ing  to  sacrifice  him.  And  when  they  have  so  de 
bauched  him  that  he  is  no  longer  fit  even  to  be  the 


228          THE   BIBLE    IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

minion  of  their  avarice,  then  they  consummate  their 
huge  iniquity,  by  branding  him  with  disgrace,  and 
sending  him  forth  to  break  the  heart  of  the  mother 
that  bare  him,  and,  unless  saved  as  by  miracle,  to  go 
down  to  a  drunkard's  grave  and  the  drunkard's  hell ! 
Ye  ruthless  devotees  of  Mammon !  drive  on  your 
eager  traffic.  Roll  up  your  ample  profits.  Rejoice 
in  your  expanding  business.  Array  your  households 
in  purple  and  fine  linen.  And  revel  in  the  gratula- 
tions  of  a  sycophantic  world.  But  there  is  a  curse 
in  your  prosperity.  Your  gains  are  the  price  of 
BLOOD.  There  is  blood  upon  your  merchandize ; 
blood  upon  your  coffers  ;  blood  upon  all  your  wretched 
pageantry ;  blood  upon  your  souls !  The  blood  of 
that  betrayed  and  immolated  youth,  cries  to  heaven 
for  vengeance ;  the  anguish  of  that  broken-hearted 
mother,  pierces  the  ear  of  the  Lord  God  of  Sabaoth ; 
and  sooner  or  later,  except  ye  be  sprinkled  with  the 
blood  which  turns  vengeance  into  mercy,  you  must 
confront  your  victim  before  a  tribunal  where  the  rust 
of  your  cankered  gold  "  shall  be  a  witness  against 
you,  and  shall  eat  your  flesh  as  it  were  fire !" 

It  cannot  be  that  this  colossal  iniquity  is  charge 
able  upon  many  of  the  firms  which  challenge  an  hon 
ourable  standing  in  the  commercial  world ;  but  there 
is  a  principle  here  which  may  require  to  be  enforced 
upon  merchants  of  every  class.  Your  responsibility 


PATERNAL    SUPERVISION.  229 

as  to  your  clerks  is  not  restricted  to  the  hours  they 
spend  in  your  warehouses.  The  same  obligation 
which  forbids  your  sending  them  into  scenes  of  dissi 
pation  in  quest  of  custom,  makes  it  incumbent  upon 
you  to  know  where  they  are  living,  and  what  are 
their  usual  evening  avocations.  A  merchant,  cer 
tainly,  who  means  to  fulfil  his  duties  to  his  clerks  in 
the  spirit  of  the  Bible,  will  see  that  they  are  not 
boarding  at  unsuitable  places.  He  will  interest  them, 
if  practicable,  in  some  library  company  or  other  insti 
tution,  which  may  offer  them  attractive  and  rational 
relaxation.  He  will  caution  them  against  vicious 
companions  and  corrupting  amusements.  He  will 
counsel  them  to  a  due  observance  of  the  Sabbath, 
and  a  regular  attendance  at  some  evangelical  church. 
And  whenever  his  quick  eye  detects  about  them 
symptoms  of  negligence  or  wrong-doing,  he  will 
interpose  his  friendly  aid  in  a  private  and  judicious 
manner,  to  arrest  the  evil  at  the  outset,  and  re 
establish  their  goings.  These  are  offices  which  every 
merchant  would  wish  to  have  his  own  sons  enjoy  at 
the  hands  of  a  brother-merchant :  why,  then,  should 
you  not  all  extend  them  to  the  entire  corps  of  your 
clerks  ?  Inexperienced,  as  many  of  them  must  be, 
absent  from  their  homes,  and  beset  with  snares,  they 
need,  not  merely  an  employer,  but  a  friend.  Who 
so  fit  to  be  their  friends  as  their  employers  ?  You 
20 


230          THE    BIBLE   IN    THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

cannot,  if  you  would,  avoid  moulding,  more  or  less-, 
their  plastic  characters :  is  it  not  an  object  worthy 
of  a  generous  ambition,  to  exert  your  power  over 
them  for  their  highest  good ;  to  train  them  to  integ 
rity  and  respectability  as  merchants,  and  to  surround 
them,  as  far  as  you  can,  with  influences  which  are 
favourable  to  their  eternal  well-being  ?  It  will  be  a 
pleasant  reflection  on  your  death -bed,  that  your 
Counting-House  has  been  a  school  of  virtue  to  your 
assistants ;  that  no  young  man  ever  learned  there  to 
be  sordid  or  deceitful ;  that  you  bestowed  a  paternal 
care  upon  your  clerks,  and  uniformly  endeavoured  as 
well  to  protect  their  morals  and  promote  their  salva 
tion,  as  to  educate  them  to  an  honourable  commercial 
life. 

I  know  not  that  I  can  better  introduce  the  few 
suggestions  to  which  1  must  limit  myself  in  address 
ing  CLERKS,  than  by  quoting  a  paper  which  is  inte 
resting  in  itself  and  from  its  history.  You  will  all 
remember  the  burning  of  the  steamer  Henry  Clay  on 
the  Hudson  River  last  summer  —  one  of  those  whole 
sale  murders  with  which  we  have  become  familiar  in 
this  country,  and  which  show  how  little  removed  we 
are  as  a  nation,  in  our  practical  estimate  of  the  value 
of  human  life,  from  a  state  of  downright  barbarism. 
Among  the  numerous  victims  of  that  flagitious  crime, 


STEPHEN   ALLEN.  231 

was  the  Hon.  STEPHEN  ALLEN,  an  aged  and  opulent 
merchant  of  New  York,  who  had  filled  the  Mayoralty 
of  that  city  and  various  other  public  offices,  with  credit 
to  himself  and  satisfaction  to  his  constituents.  On 
recovering  the  body  of  this  venerable  man,  a  day  or 
two  after  the  disaster,  a  well-worn  newspaper-slip 
was  found  in  his  pocket-book,  of  which  the  following 
is  a  copy  :  — 

Keep  good  company  or  none. 

Never  be  idle. 

If  your  hands  cannot  be  usefully  employed,  attend  to  the 
cultivation  of  your  mind. 

Always  speak  the  truth. 

Make  few  promises. 

Live  up  to  your  engagements. 

Keep  your  own  secrets,  if  you  have  any. 

When  you  speak  to  a  person,  look  him  in  the  face. 

Good  company  and  good  conversation  are  the  very  sinews 
of  virtue. 

Good  character  is  above  all  things  else. 

Your  character  cannot  be  essentially  injured,  except  by 
your  own  acts. 

If  any  one  speaks  evil  of  you,  let  your  life  be  so  that 
none  will  believe  him. 

Drink  no  kind  of  intoxicating  liquors. 

Ever  live  (misfortunes  excepted)  within  your  income. 

"When  you  retire  to  bed,  think  over  what  you  have  been 
doing  during  the  day. 

Make  no  haste  to  be  rich,  if  you  would  prosper. 


232         THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

Small  and  steady  gains  give  competency  with  tranquillity 
of  mind. 

Never  play  at  any  kind  of  game  of  chance. 

Avoid  temptation,  through  fear  you  may  not  withstand  it. 

Earn  money  before  you  spend  it. 

Never  run  into  debt,  unless  you  see  a  way  to  get  out  again. 

Never  borrow,  if  you  can  possibly  avoid  it. 

Do  not  marry  until  you  are  able  to  support  a  wife. 

Never  speak  evil  of  any  one. 

Be  just  before  you  are  generous. 

Keep  yourself  innocent,  if  you  would  be  happy. 

Save  when  you  are  young,  to  spend  when  you  are  old. 

Read  over  the  above  maxims  at  least  once  a  week. 

This  was  Mr.  Allen's  Vade  Mecum,  his  pocket-com 
panion  and  chart.  The  maxims  were  embodied  in 
his  life,  and,  by  the  favour  of  Providence,  conducted 
him  to  wealth  and  honour.  You  will  readily  see  that, 
excellent  as  they  are  in  the  main,  they  are  very  de 
fective,  some  principles  and  duties  of  prime  import 
ance  being  omitted  altogether.  It  is  pleasant  to 
know  that  these  had  engaged,  more  and  more,  the 
attention  of  this  upright  and  useful  citizen  during 
the  closing  years  of  his  life,  and  that  he  expressed 
to  his  friends,  not  only  his  firm  belief  in  the  doctrines 
of  Christianity,  but  his  personal  reliance  upon  its 
SAVIOUR. 

The  counsels  are  not  cited  here  as  being  exclu 
sively  applicable  to  young  men :  some  of  them  con- 


DUTIES    OF   A    CLERK.  233 

template  ratlier  the  merchant  than  the  clerk.  But 
both  classes  may  consult  them  with  advantage. 
Having  set  them  before  you,  I  go  on  to  observe, 
in  the  spirit  of  these  hints,  that 

Every  clerk  should  identify  himself  with  the  house 
he  is  engaged  in.  This  is  one  of  the  most  obvious 
principles  appertaining  to  this  relation.  From  the 
moment  you  enter  the  service  of  a  firm,  their  interest 
must  be  yours.  You  sustain  a  relation  to  them,  which 
you  hold  to  no  other  house.  While  you  are  not  to 
stoop  to  any  immorality  for  the  purpose  of  serving 
them,  you  are  to  guard  their  property  and  their 
reputation,  as  though  they  were  your  own ;  you  are 
to  avoid  whatever  may  injure  them,  and  do  all  in 
your  power  to  contribute  to  their  prosperity.  If  it 
is  incumbent  upon  your  principals  to  take  a  friendly 
interest  in  you,  the  correlative  obligation  rests  upon 
you  to  promote,  as  you  may  be  able,  both  their  busi 
ness  and  their  personal  comfort.  It  is  not  always 
the  fault  of  the  principals,  that  the  tie  which  binds 
the  tenantry  of  a  commercial  establishment  together 
is  of  a  mere  mercenary  character :  the  most  liberal 
policy  on  their  part  may  be  thwarted  by  a  set  of  per 
verse  or  selfish  clerks. 

It  is  only  a  modification  of  the  principle  just 
affirmed,  to  insist  upon  the  strictest  fidelity  in  dis 
charging  all  the  duties  proper  to  the  position  you 
20* 


234          THE   BIBLE    IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

occupy.  It  cannot  be  necessary  to  repeat  here  the 
familiar  adage,  that  "  whatever  is  worth  doing  at  all, 
should  be  well  done."  But  let  every  clerk  remem 
ber,  that  there  is  no  department  of  the  work  entrusted 
to  him,  which  is  not  embraced  in  the  obligation,  to 
serve  his  employers  to  the  very  best  of  his  ability. 
There  are  many  ways  in  which  he  may  violate  this 
rule,  short  of  going  to  the  safe  and  thrusting  his  hand 
into  the  money-drawer.  He  may  fail  in  punctuality. 
He  may  so  exhaust  his  energies  with  an  evening's 
dissipation,  as  to  be  unfitted  for  the  next  day's  duties. 
He  may  perform  his  work  in  a  listless,  drowsy  man 
ner,  not  only  unjust  to  the  house,  but  provoking  to 
his  fellow-clerks,  since  their  toil  will  have  to  bear  the 
brunt  of  his  laziness.  He  may  see  goods  suffering 
from  exposure  or  other  causes,  without  protecting 
them.  He  may  alienate  customers  by  the  gruffness 
of  his  manner  or  his  offensive  volubility.  He  may 
disappoint  others  by  failing  to  have  their  goods  or 
their  bills  ready  at  the  stipulated  time.  He  may 
arrogate  an  unauthorized  responsibility  in  the  open 
ing  of  new  accounts,  and  thus  involve  the  firm  in 
vexatious  and  mortifying  negotiations.  He  may 
neglect  to  forward  goods  as  per  agreement,  without 
writing  to  apprize  the  owner  of  the  reason.  He 
may  turn  town-crier,  and  publish  far  and  near  those 
private  matters  concerning  the  business  of  the  house, 


EYE-SERVICE.  235 

which  every  sentiment  of  honour  should  restrain  him 
from  breathing  outside  the  ware -rooms.  He  may 
recommend  for  a  clerkship  some  inefficient  or  unreli 
able  crony,  who  wants  a  place,  but  does  not  deserve 
one.  —  These,  and  very  many  other  things  like  these, 
which  a  clerk  may  do,  are  incompatible  with  fidelity, 
and  in  derogation  of  his  employers'  just  claims  upon 
him. 

The  essential  quality  for  a  young  man  in  this  posi 
tion,  is  that  sound  moral  principle  which  is  at  once 
the  best  monitor  to  duty  and  the  surest  guarantee  of 
confidence.  I  can  picture  to  myself  the  daily  routine 
of  two  clerks,  one  of  whom  is  swayed  by  principle, 
and  the  other  by  policy.  The  latter  is  of  that  class 
the  apostle  had  in  view  when  he  said  —  "  not  with 
eye-service,  as  men-pleasers."  His  performances  are 
all  summed  up  in  the  phrase,  "  eye-service."  When 
his  employers  are  present,  he  is  extremely  diligent. 
Behind  their  backs,  he  is  a  model  of  sloth  and  un 
faithfulness.  So  it  can  be  concealed  from  them,  he 
cares  not  how  late  he  comes  to  his  work,  how  little 
of  it  he  does,  nor  how  much  he  slights  it.  Whatever 
time  he  bestows  upon  labour,  is  so  much  lost :  he  finds 
his  life  in  lounging  and  trifling,  in  idle  gossip  and 
trashy  novels.  —  His  fellow  is  of  a  widely  different 
type.  The  power  which  controls  his  movements,  is 
not  in  the  eye  of  his  master,  but  in  his  own  breast. 


236          THE    BIBLE    IX   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

It  matters  not  with  him,  who  is  present,  or  who  ab 
sent.  His  work  is  to  be  done,  irrespective  of  all  out 
ward  circumstances.  The  interpretation  he  puts  upon 
his  articles  of  agreement,  makes  him  do  for  his  em 
ployers  as  he  would  do  for  himself.  Always  at  his 
post,  he  pursues  his  avocation  with  an  unfaltering 
step.  Impelled  to  diligence  and  constancy,  not  by 
the  fear  of  a  discharge,  but  by  the  consciousness  of 
right,  he  enjoys  a  serenity  of  mind  to  which  his  com 
panion  is  a  stranger,  and  is  as  steadily  advancing 
towards  honour  and  usefulness,  as  the  other  is  sink 
ing  into  disgrace  and  contempt.  —  It  cannot  be  too 
often  reiterated  in  the  ears  of  our  young  men,  that 
this  is  the  true  path  to  success.  "Wait  not  for  great 
occasions  before  you  begin  to  act ;  wherever  your  lot 
may  be  cast,  the  sphere  of  duty  lies  immediately 
around  you.  Fill  it  up  with  an  example  of  the  kind 
ness  that  attracts,  the  sincerity  that  can  be  seen 
through  like  crystal,  the  diligence  that  anticipates 
duty,  the  trustworthiness  that  defies  suspicion,  the 
openheartedness  that  opens  other  hearts,  the  manly 
character  that  commands  esteem,  the  Christian  char 
acter  that  arms  its  possessor  with  a  power  more  than 
earthly.  Defer  not  to  a  distant  time  the  intention 
to  begin."  "  One  to-day  is  worth  two  to-morrows." 
Only  treat  duty  as  a  sacred  thing,  and  you  will  find 
that  "  in  keeping  His  commandments  there  is  great 
reward." 


TEMPERS   AND   MANNERS.  237 

Among  the  minor  causes  of  failure  with  young 
men  in  this  relation,  the  subject  of  tempers  and 
manners  deserves  a  prominence  which  cannot  be 
conceded  to  it  in  these  brief  discussions.  That  a 
clerkship  is  frequently  a  severe  school  of  discipline 
for  the  temper,  cannot  be  denied.  But  this  is  a  part 
of  the  necessary  training  of  a  merchant.  Let  it  en 
courage  those  who  are  subjected  to  the  caprices  of 
unreasonable  employers,  who  are  found  fault  with 
when  they  are  guiltless  of  all  wrong,  scolded  when 
they  have  done  the  best  they  could,  and  denied  in 
dulgences  which  others  enjoy,  that  the  self-control 
they  are  acquiring  under  this  rough  tutelage,  may  be 
of  more  value  to  them  hereafter  than  all  the  smiles 
their  masters  could  lavish  upon  them.  And  bew^are 
of  cherishing  tempers  which  might  give  just  occasion 
for  reproof.  It  is  not  enough  that  you  be  honest  and 
industrious  and  intelligent.  A  clerk  may  be  all  this, 
and  yet  neutralize  the  impression  of  his  good  qualities 
by  a  levity  which  makes  him  seem  a  mere  trifler. 
Or  he  may  repel  people  by  his  sulkiness  or  his  irri 
tability.  He  may  be  foolishly  sensitive  to  affronts. 
He  may  be  a  slave  to  envy  and  jealousy.  He  may 
be  utterly  deficient  in  that  good  feeling  wrhich  would 
make  him  willing  to  lend  a  helping  hand  to  his  fellows 
in  time  of  need.  He  may  be  too  proud  for  his  sta 
tion,  and  deem  it  an  indignity  to  perform  offices  which 


238          THE   BIBLE    IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

better  and  wiser  men  than  himself  have  often  per7 
formed  without  scruple.  "  A  man's  pride  shall  bring 
him  low,  but  honour  shall  uphold  the  humble  in 
spirit."  Let  me  quote  on  this  point,  a  paragraph 
from  a  very  pleasant  letter  of  Dr.  Franklin's  (written 
in  his  seventy-ninth  year)  to  Dr.  Mather  of  Boston : — 

"  It  is  now  more  than  sixty  years  since  I  left  Boston  ;  but 
I  remember  well  both  your  father  and  grandfather,  having 
heard  them  both  in  the  pulpit,  and  seen  them  in  their  houses. 
The  last  time  I  saw  your  father  was  in  the  beginning  of  1724. 
He  received  me  into  his  Library,  and  on  my  taking  leave, 
showed  me  a  shorter  way  out  of  the  house  through  a  narrow 
passage,  which  was  crossed  by  a  beam  over-head.  We  were 
still  talking  as  I  withdrew,  he  accompanying  me  behind,  and 
1  turning  partly  towards  him,  when  he  said  hastily,  '  Stoop,' 
'  Stoop/  I  did  not  understand  him  till  I  felt  my  head  hit 
against  the  beam.  He  was  a  man  that  never  missed  any 
occasion  of  giving  instruction  ;  and  upon  this  he  said  to  me, 
'You  are  young,  and  have  the  world  before  you:  STOOP  as 
you  go  through  it,  and  you  will  miss  many  hard  thumps.' 
The  advice  thus  beat  into  my  head,  has  frequently  been  of 
use  to  me,  and  I  often  think  of  it  when  I  see  pride  mortified, 
and  misfortunes  brought  upon  people  by  their  carrying  their 
heads  too  high." 

People  of  every  avocation  may  profit  by  this  les 
son  ;  and  the  clerk  who  is  disposed  to  take  it  volun 
tarily,  will  fare  better  than  he  who  waits  to  have  it 
"beaten  into  his  head"  by  some  mortifying  occur 
rence  or  positive  loss.  Rely  upon  it,  if  you  do  not 


LEARNING   TO    STOOP.  239 

know  liow  to  "  stoop,"  you  have  a  rugged  path  before 
you  —  very  much  such  a  path  as  a  platoon  of  soldiers 
would  find  who  should  undertake  to  march  with  mili 
tary  precision,  carriage  erect,  eyes  straight  forward, 
and  muskets  a-shoulder,  through  a  tangled  and  swampy 
forest.  Sooner  or  later,  you  will  have  to  " stoop"; 
and  you  will  do  it  with  more  grace  and  more  comfort 
if  you  practise  the  art  now,  than  if  you  let  your  mus 
cles  acquire  such  a  rigidity  that  when  the  inflexion 
becomes  unavoidable,  the  performance  will  be  certain 
to  savour  of  the  awkwardness  of  a  rustic  on  his  first 
introduction  at  court. 

One  of  the  common  sources  of  danger  and  disaster 
with  clerks,  is,  extravagance  in  their  mode  of  living. 
The  usual  scale  of  mercantile  salaries  in  our  cities,  is 
adjusted  to  the  most  economical  habits.  It  is,  there 
fore,  a  perilous  thing  for  those  who  depend  upon 
these  salaries  to  become  smitten  with  a  passion  for 
display.  How  is  a  young  man  to  rent  a  suite  of 
richly-furnished  rooms,  keep  up  an  elegant  wardrobe, 
decorate  his  person  with  costly  jewelry,  and  indulge 
in  expensive  amusements,  on  a  stipend  of  a  few  hun 
dred  dollars  ?  It  is  natural  that  the  employers  of  a 
young  man  who  is  seen  to  be  attempting  this,  should 
have  their  eyes  upon  him.  And  if  the  experiment 
goes  on,  they  will  be  curious  to  learn  whence  he  de 
rives  his  income.  It  may  come  from  legitimate  quar- 


240          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

ters :  lie  may  have  collateral  resources  of  which  they 
are  ignorant.  Or  it  may  come  from  their  warehouse. 
The  love  of  dress  and  company  may  have  mastered 
his  integrity,  and  put  him  upon  a  system  of  pecula 
tion.  Possibly,  he  has  become  a  speculator.  If  he 
occupies  a  "confidential"  position,  and  has  free  access 
to  the  finances  of  the  firm,  some  intriguing  operator 
may  have  enticed  him  into  a  course  of  stock-gambling. 
Once  committed  to  this  nefarious  business,  the  checks 
of  the  house  are  dealt  out  freely  to  his  partner  in 
iniquity,  and  for  a  while,  he  has  no  lack  of  revenues 
to  sustain  his  luxurious  habits.  Ordinarily,  however, 
"the  triumphing  of  the  wicked  is  short:"  his  dis 
honesties  are  brought  to  light,  and  he  is  either  driven 
out  of  society  in  shame,  or  consigned  to  a  penitentiary. 
If  any  are  disposed  to  argue  that  in  cases  of  this  sort, 
unhappily  become  so  common,  the  burden  of  guilt 
lies  upon  the  receiver  of  the  funds  abstracted,  -I  shall 
not  quarrel  with  them.  The  man  who  will  encourage 
a  clerk  in  such  a  career,  who  will  stimulate  him  to 
obtain  by  robbery  the  moneys  requisite  to  carry  on 
one  speculation  after  another,  is  a  hundred-fold  more 
deserving  of  the  State-prison  than  the  wretch  who 
breaks  open  your  store  and  carries  off  your  goods. 
The  defects  inseparable  from  human  jurisprudence, 
make  it  difficult  to  convict  this  class  of  offenders ;  and 
so  it  happens  that  they  are  apt  to  go  "  unwhipt  of 
justice." 


DISSIPATION.  241 

justice."  Bat  there  can  be  no  difference  of  opinion 
among  honest  men  as  to  their  moral  turpitude.  Still, 
this  does  not  excuse  the  allies  and  instruments  of 
their  villany.  The  clerk  who  allows  himself  to  be 
drawn  into  a  plot  of  this  kind,  richly  deserves  the 
reprehension  which  his  treachery  and  fraud  are  sure 
to  bring  down  upon  him :  —  and  he  deserves  it  all 
the  more,  because  his  own  extravagances  are  usually 
the  remote  spring  of  his  derelictions. 

Closely  affiliated  with  the  errors  just  adverted  to, 
are  the  habits  commonly  indicated  by  the  word,  dis 
sipation.  This  topic  has  been  mentioned  already  in 
connection  with  the  custom  known  amongst  us  by  the 
technical  appellations  of  "drumming"  and  "boring." 
The  observations  addressed  to  principals,  imply  what 
is  the  duty  of  clerks,  in  respect  to  that  particular 
usage.  But  their  dangers  extend  quite  beyond  this. 
How  varied  and  imminent  they  are,  must  be  apparent 
to  every  one  who  has  lived  for  any  length  of  time  in 
a  large  city,  and  who  considers  that  the  greater  por 
tion  of  the  young  men  in  our  mercantile  establish 
ments,  have  been  brought  up  in  the  comparative  quiet 
and  purity  of  the  country.  The  serried  temptations 
of  the  metropolis  come  upon  them  all  at  once.  They 
have  had  no  opportunity  to  become  familiarized  with 
them  by  degrees,  and  fortified  against  them.  They 
encounter  them  en  masse,  and  at  the  very  moment 
21 


242          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

when  they  are  deprived  of  the  sheltering  influences 
which  are  bound  up  in  a  cherished  home.  The  day 
which  transfers  them  from,  the  paternal  fireside,  with 
its  wholesome  restraints  and  elevating  associations, 
to  a  great  metropolitan  hotel  or  boarding-house,  sees 
them  exposed  for  the  first  time  to  a  host  of  dangers, 
each  one  of  which  has  slain  its  tens  of  thousands. 
The  wonder  is,  not  that  some  should  fall,  but  that  so 
many  escape.  And  in  so  far  as  our  own  city  is  con 
cerned,  no  thanks  will  be  due  to  the  public  authorities 
of  the  Commonwealth,  if  the  proportion  of  those  who 
escape,  shall  not  be  diminished  from  year  to  year. 
You  will  readily  understand  this  allusion.  The  vice 
which  destroys  more  of  our  young  men  than  any 
other,  is  Intemperance.  And  the  course  of  recent 
legislation  in  Pennsylvania  has  been  such  as  to  mul 
tiply  indefinitely  the  facilities  and  inducements  to 
intemperance  in  this  city  and  county.  When  the 
Emperor  of  China  was  urged  to  legalize  the  opium- 
trade,  and  thus  derive  a  revenue  from  it,  the  answer 
he  made  (and  it  is  worthy  to  be  inscribed  upon  the 
throne  of  that  empire  in  perpetuity),  was  this :  —  "  It 
is  true,  I  cannot  prevent  the  introduction  of  the 
flowing-poison :  gain-seeking  and  corrupt  men  will, 
for  profit  and  sensuality,  defeat  my  wishes;  but 
nothing  will  induce  me  to  derive  a  revenue  from  the 
vice  and  misery  of  my  people."  A  voice  like  this 


INTEMPERANCE   LEGALIZED.  243 

from  a  pagan  throne,  might  well  make  the  ears  of 
Christian  legislators  to  tingle.  But  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania  stoops  to  put  into  its  treasury  the  fee 
of  every  man  who  chooses  to  pay  a  paltry  fifty  dollars 
for  the  liberty  of  retailing  liquid  poison  to  its  citizens. 
The  consequences  are  equally  notorious  and  appalling. 
Since  the  enactment  of  this  law,  dram-shops  of  every 
grade  have  sprung  up  all  over  our  city.  The  most 
fashionable  avenues  are  disfigured  with  genteel  grog- 
geries  ;  and  at  certain  hours  of  the  day  and  evening, 
you  cannot  pass  along  the  streets  without  meeting 
groups  of  young  men  and  boys  in  a  state  of  partial 
inebriation,  sauntering  from  one  of  these  establish 
ments  to  another.  It  is  affecting  to  see  what  numbers 
of  our  youth  are,  in  this  way,  hastening  to  disgrace 
and  ruin,  each  one,  perhaps,  drawing  a  cluster  of 
broken  hearts  in  his  train.  —  On  the  proper  remedy 
for  this  frightful  evil,  opinions  are  divided.  All  are 
agreed  —  all,  certainly,  who  are  not  implicated  in  its 
pecuniary  profits  —  that  it  ought  to  be  abated.  Some 
would  rely  upon  moral  means  only.  Others  would 
invoke  legislation.  There  is  no  reason  apparent,  why 
the  same  legislative  power  which  has  opened  this 
flood-gate  of  vice  upon  society,  should  not  be  exerted 
to  close  it.  Nor  should  any  distrust  of  the  wisdom, 
the  constitutionality,  or  the  efficacy,  of  one  proposed 
set  of  enactments,  preclude  other  statutes  which  would 


244          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

be  open  to  no  valid  objection.  I  shall  not  be  drawn 
into  a  discussion  here  of  specific  prohibitory  measures. 
I  will  give  no  adversary  an  opportunity  to  declaim 
about  "sumptuary  laws,"  "oppression,"  "tyranny," 
"persecution,"  and  the  like.  I  stand  upon  higher 
and  broader  ground  —  upon  the  ground  occupied,  as 
I  suppose,  by  the  great  mass  of  intelligent  and  re 
spectable  citizens  in  this  community,  of  all  trades  and 
professions,  of  all  faiths  and  forms.  With  all  these, 
I  maintain,  that  the  existing  license-system  is  a  dis 
grace  to  the  statute-book ;  that  it  is  at  war  with  the 
best  interests  of  society ;  that  its  legitimate  tendency 
is  to  promote  pauperism  and  crime;  that  it  is  de 
bauching  the  morals  of  our  youth,  and  hurrying  them 
to  premature  and  dishonoured  graves ;  that  while  it 
is  killing  men's  bodies,  it  is  destroying  their  souls ; 
and  that  on  these  and  many  other  grounds,  it  ought 
to  be  thoroughly  revised  and  made  tenfold  more 
stringent.  Very  far  am  I  from  supposing  that  this 
alone  would  exterminate  intemperance.  But  a  suit 
able  law  —  such  a  law  as  should  be  satisfactory,  not 
to  people  of  extreme  views,  if  any  such  there  are,  but 
to  the  most  considerate  and  liberal-minded  of  our 
citizens  —  could  not  fail  to  check  the  progress  of  this 
gigantic  evil,  and  relieve  us  of  a  part  of  its  intolerable 
burdens.  This  is  the  demand  we  make  of  our  legis 
lators.  I  make  it  as  a  Christian  pastor,  whose  office 


DEMAND   FOR   LEGISLATIVE  ACTION.  245 

it  is,  in  however  humble  a  way,  to  seek  the  social  and 
moral  well-being  of  the  community.  And  you  make 
it,  Gentlemen,  (for  I  cannot  err  in  believing  that  we 
are  at  one  on  this  point,)  not  only  as  individual  citi 
zens,  but  as  the  guardians  of  a  vast  body  of  young 
men  whose  morals  are  in  jeopardy  every  hour  from 
this  legalized  system  for  making  drunkards.  If  we 
cannot  stand  together  upon  this  ground,  if  we  are 
not  agreed  in  pronouncing  this  a  fit  subject  for  legis 
lative  and  judicial  action,  I  know  of  no  platform  on 
which  the  humane  and  moral  portion  of  society  can 
meet  together  to  petition  for  the  redress  of  any  social 
grievance  whatever. 

I  may  appear  to  you  to  have  wandered  from  my 
subject.  But,  certainly,  every  word  of  this  seeming 
digression,  is  adapted  to  warn  the  young  men  in  our 
Counting-Houses  of  the  snares  which  are  spread  for 
them.  In  all  ordinary  cases,  you  may  date  the  ruin 
of  a  youth  from  the  period  when  he  begins  to  frequent 
one  of  these  tippling-shops.  For  if  he  begins  here, 
he  will  not  end  here.  The  vices  are  gregarious.  The 
"  gin-palace,"  the  Sunday-drive,  the  theatre,  and  sen 
sual  pleasure,  though  not  inseparable,  are  usually 
linked  together.  The  passions  which  any  of  them 
gratifies,  will  be  apt  to  court  indulgence  in  the  others. 
The  principles  undermined  by  one,  are  damaged  by 
all.  To  surrender  to  one,  is  to  throw  down  your 
21* 


246          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

ramparts  and  open  your  gates  to  the  remainder. 
The  merchant  who  sends  you  into  these  scenes  to 
find  business  for  him,  need  not  be  surprised,  if  after 
a  few  years  he  has  to  dismiss  you  because  you  are 
unfit  to  do  business.  The  clerk  who  frequents  them 
spontaneously,  may  with  still  greater  certainty  lay 
his  account  for  an  early  discharge.  By  far  other 
means  than  these  corrupting  amusements,  are  young 
men  to  be  trained  to  the  toils  and  the  rewards  of 
honourable  commerce. 

Nor  can  I  refrain  here  from  addressing  a  word  of 
remonstrance  to  those  country  merchants  who  are  in 
the  habit  of  accompanying  our  young  men  into  scenes 
of  vice  or  of  drinking  wine  with  them.  If  any  such 
were  within  the  reach  of  my  voice,  I  would  say  to 
them  —  Reflect  for  a  moment  on  the  course  you  are 
pursuing.  These  young  men  are,  most  of  them, 
absent  from  their  homes.  They  are  sent  here  to 
earn  a  support  and  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  busi 
ness.  Many  of  them  are  without  pecuniary  resources 
or  influential  friends.  Character  is  everything  to 
them.  Even  those  who  have  property  are  dependent, 
under  God,  on  the  reputation  they  establish  for  in 
tegrity,  sobriety,  diligence,  and  capacity.  To  corrupt 
their  morals,  is  to  ruin  them.  When  their  principles 
give  way,  their  prospects  for  life  are  blasted.  Their 
employers  will  discharge  them,  and  they  will  be  thrown 


APPEAL  TO  COUNTRY  MERCHANTS.      247 

upon  the  world  as  adventurers  and  outcasts.  You 
would  not  willingly  be  accessory  to  their  destruction. 
You  wish  them  to  become  upright  and  successful  mer 
chants,  an  ornament,  not  a  disgrace,  to  their  families. 
And  yet,  what  are  you  doing  ?  You  allow  them  to 
"treat"  you.  You  accept  their  invitations  to  the 
theatre,  to  go  on  a  "  Sunday  Excursion,"  possibly  to 
visit  a  gambling-house,  or  worse  places.  Is  not  this 
to  ensnare  and  deprave  them ?  But,  "it  is  their  own 
proposal,"  you  may  say.  What  then  ?  Are  you 
bound  to  accede  to  it  ?  If  they  are  already  disposed 
to  go  astray  —  if  they  have  actually  entered  upon  the 
downward  way  —  that  enhances  your  obligation  to 
refuse  their  overtures.  If  you  comply,  you  accelerate 
their  ruin.  If  you  decline  not  only,  but  remonstrate 
and  admonish  them  of  their  danger,  you  may  "  save 
a  soul  from  death,  and  hide  a  multitude  of  sins." 
Deal  with  them  as  you  would  have  others  deal,  in 
similar  circumstances,  with  your  own  sons  or  brothers. 
Yrou  purchase  pleasure  at  too  dear  a  rate,  when  it 
costs  the  reputation,  the  virtue,  the  prospects,  per 
haps  the  eternal  well-being,  of  a  fellow  -  creature. 
Thousands  of  clerks  have  been  destroyed  in  this  way : 
when  inquisition  is  made  for  their  blood  at  the  last 
day,  see  that  it  be  not  found  upon  your  heads ! 

These  remarks  on  certain  kinds  of  amusements, 
are  made  with  the  more  confidence,  because  the  clerks 


248         THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

in  our  cities  can  never  want  for  means  of  innocent 
relaxation.  There  are  always  open  Exhibitions  of 
various  sorts  which  combine  instruction  and  enter 
tainment.  There  are  Evening  Lectures,  and  Gal 
leries  of  Paintings.  There  is  social  visiting,  with  its 
refining  influence  upon  the  mind  and  manners.  There 
are  the  public  Libraries ;  especially  the  Institutions 
provided  for  the  express  benefit  of  mercantile  men, 
and  whose  well-stocked  shelves  and  spacious  reading- 
rooms  open  to  them  a  source  of  elevated  and  inex 
haustible  enjoyment.  —  Surely  there  is  something 
wrong  with  the  clerk  who,  in  the  midst  of  scenes  like 
these,  can  find  no  way  of  consuming  his  few  leisure 
hours,  without  resorting  to  demoralizing  amusements. 

There  is  another  topic  of  vital  importance  to  clerks, 
as  well  as  merchants,  which  I  had  intended  to  con 
sider  at  some  length ;  but  this  would  quite  exhaust 
your  patience.  I  refer  to  PARTNERSHIPS.  I  will 
simply  refer  to  the  two  mistakes  which  young  men 
are  most  apt  to  commit  on  this  subject.  The  first,  is 
that  of  entering  into  a  copartnership  prematurely. 
Impatience  and  ambition  are  common  characteristics 
of  youth ;  and  they  show  themselves,  in  your  depart 
ment  of  life,  in  an  unwise  haste  to  assume  the  respon 
sibilities  of  business.  A  more  thorough  training 
would  insure  a  wiser  and  safer  control.  The  best 


PARTNERSHIPS.  249 

captains  are  those  wlio  have  seen  most  service  before 
the  mast.  It  is  natural  for  a  clerk  to  feel  flattered 
by  the  proposal  to  exchange  his  subordinate  position 
for  a  place  in  the  firm,  and  his  salary  for  a  partici 
pation  in  the  profits.  "  These  are  generally  advan 
tageous  offers,  designed  simply  to  reward  assiduous 
industry,  to  attach  a  valuable  assistant,  or  to  lay  hold 
of  useful  business  connections.  But  they  are  too 
often  accepted  with  the  impatient  eagerness  of  youth, 
showing  off  the  spirit  of  the  young  horse,  feeling  his 
strength,  activity,  and  fire,  panting  and  neighing  for 
the  dangers  of  the  field,  without  the  training  for  its 
duties  or  a  knowledge  of  its  dangers.  Such  offers 
are  often  embraced  because  the  youth  would  feel  him 
self  beginning  business,  interested  in  the  profits ;  be 
cause  he  wishes,  in  his  moments  of  vanity,  to  boast 
among  his  companions  of  being  a  member  of  such  a 
great  house.  He  may  be  induced,  too,  by  motives 
the  most  generous,  involving  the  bettering  of  the 
condition  of  a  dependent  mother,  sisters,  or  wife. 
Thousands  of  motives  —  not  even  suspicious  and 
adapted  to  his  every  virtue  and  every  vice  —  recom 
mend  his  acceptance  of  such  offers.  Let  him,  how 
ever,  examine  well  his  steps.  Let  him  judge  without 
illusion.  Let  him  here  remember  that  he  becomes  a 
partner  so  far  as  that  relation  can  be  disastrous, 
while  he  may  in  fact  be  a  mere  clerk  so  far  as  it 


250          THE    BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

might  be  advantageous.  Such  offers  are  not  to  be 
lightly  declined,  nor  suspiciously  received,  but  they 
are  to  be  coolly  considered :  and  here  the  wisdom  of 
age,  the  advice  of  cautious  friends,  become  indispen 
sable  guides ;  and  patience,  not  to  be  too  eager  to 
get  rich,  a  necessary  virtue.  Such  offers  are  very 
often  openings  to  wealth,  character,  and  influence ; 
also  are  they  sometimes  avenues  in  early  life  to  irre 
trievable  ruin."* 

Let  these  judicious  counsels  suffice  as  to  the  first 
point  adverted  to.  The  second  error  common  with 
young  men,  is  that  of  forming  partnerships  with  un 
suitable  persons.  We  see  this  continually  in  matri 
monial  alliances.  People  are  joined  together  whose 
characters  and  tastes  have  so  little  congruity,  that 
every  body  around  is  from  the  outset  predicting  trou 
ble  :  and  these  are  among  the  few  uninspired  prophe 
cies  which  are  apt  to  be  fulfilled.  Similar  mistakes 
in  business  would  be  less  frequent,  if  parties  duly 
considered  the  very  delicate  and  confidential  nature 
of  a  copartnership.  Except  in  the  case  of  "  special 
partners,"  for  which  the  wise  legislation  of  modern 
times  has  made  provision,  the  power  you  confer  upon 
your  associate,  is  "nothing  less  than  a  power  to  ruin 
you."  All  your  pecuniary  interests  are  entrusted  to 
his  hands.  He  can  speedily  make  an  insolvent  of 

*  Daniel  Lord,  Jan.,  Esquire. 


UNDESIRABLE  ASSOCIATES.  251 

you,  and  reduce  your  family  to  beggary.  He  may 
be  a  visionary  man,  who  will  plunge  into  one  wild 
project  after  another.  He  may  be  an  imperious  man, 
who  will  treat  you,  not  as  an  equal,  but  as  a  servant. 
He  may  be  an  obstinate  man,  so  set  in  his  way,  that 
neither  argument  nor  entreaty  will  make  any  impres 
sion  upon  him.  He  may  be  an  irritable  man,  or,  what 
is  still  worse,  a  sullen  man,  who,  if  disturbed  in  his 
temper,  will  go  about  with  a  lowering  countenance, 
like  a  spoiled  child,  for  a  whole  day  or  week.  He 
may  be  a  proud  man,  who  will  feel  himself  above  do 
ing  things  which  may  be  essential  to  the  prosperity 
of  the  firm,  and  which  other  merchants  do  without 
any  sense  of  humiliation.  He  may  be  an  idle  man, 
wTho  will  leave  you  to  do  the  work  while  he  drives  out 
with  a  "fast  horse"  in  business  hours,  or  roams  over 
the  country  in  quest  of  pleasure.  He  may  be  an 
extravagant  man,  who  will  impair  the  means  and 
injure  the  credit  of  the  house,  by  his  luxurious  style 
of  living.  He  may  be  an  avaricious  man,  who  will 
mortify  and  vex  you  beyond  measure,  with  his  at 
tempts  at  a  sordid  economy,  and  his  penurious  hig 
gling  with  clerks,  porters,  and  every  body  who  has 
any  transactions  with  him.  He  may  be  an  ignorant 
man,  who  will  purchase  cotton  to  ship  to  Mobile,  or 
oil  to  send  to  New  Bedford.*  He  may  be  a  dissi- 

*  It  is  not  every  venture  of  this  class  which  turns  out  as 


252          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

pated  man,  who  will  secretly  gamble  at  cards  and 
billiards ;  or  a  grasping  man,  who  will  still  more 
secretly  gamble  in  stocks.  He  may  be  a  dishonest 
man,  who  will  filch  away  your  property,  break 
down  the  concern,  and  retire  on  a  fortune.  —  These 
are  but  samples.  The  catalogue  might  be  largely 
extended :  but  this  list  may  suffice  to  convince  you 
that  there  is  some  reason  for  care  and  caution  in 
choosing  as  well  a  business-mate  as  a  mate  for  life. 
A  partnership  lightly  formed  may  move  on  pleasantly 
for  a  time.  But  commerce  has  its  honey-moon  no 
less  than  matrimony ;  and  it  is  well  in  both  relations 
to  consider  beforehand,  how  the  mechanism  will  work 
when  days  of  darkness  and  peril  come.  Sagacious 
observers  have  conjectured,  nay  some  satirists  (disap 
pointed  celibates  no  doubt)  have  ventured  to  assert, 
that  the  more  intimate  of  these  alliances  is  sometimes 
marred  by  very  unconjugal  disputations.  Without 
pausing  to  refute  this  ungenerous  calumny,  it  is  safe 
to  assume,  that  the  ill-assorted  unions  of  mercantile 
life,  must  occasionally  convert  the  counting-room  or 
the  commercial  parlour,  into  an  arena  of  painful  con 
troversy.  Perhaps  no  precaution  can  guard  against 

well  as  that  famous  one  of  a  late  opulent  Boston  merchant, 
whose  cargo  of  warming-pans  shipped  to  the  West  Indies, 
supplied  the  planters  with  capital  ladles  for  their  sugar- 
houses. 


THE   FRIENDSHIPS    OF    COMMERCE.  253 

contingencies  of  this  sort.  But  they  would  seldom 
occur  if  parties  should  take  pains  to  know  each  other 
ivell  before  yoking  together :  —  and  if  (it  may  be 
added)  the  articles  of  agreement  should  prescribe 
with  an  unambiguous  explicitness,  how  they  were  to 
become  unyoked,  and  what  should  be  done  with  the 
assets  in  case  of  misfortune  or  embarrassment.  Proper 
attention  to  these  points  has  made  many  copartner 
ships  a  source  of  great  social  enjoyment  and  a  bond 
of  lasting  friendship.  It  is,  indeed,  refreshing  to 
find,  in  this  region  so  little  adapted  to  the  sentiment 
and  poetry  of  life,  instances  of  a  noble  and  ardent 
attachment  decorating  the  rigours  of  an  expanded 
traffic,  and  maturing  in  strength  and  beauty  amidst 
the  cares  of  a  great  commercial  establishment.  Such 
examples  take  one's  thoughts  into  those  lofty  Alpine 
regions,  where  the  traveller  sees,  here  and  there, 
majestic  forest-trees  whose  spreading  branches  and 
exuberant  foliage  contrast  strangely  with  the  savage 
rocks  and  glaciers  all  around.  They  impart  a  certain 
dignity  to  trade,  and  keep  alive  in  liberal  minds  that 
respect  for  it  which  there  is  so  much  in  the  current 
usages  and  developments  of  business  to  impair.  Let 
your  copartnerships  be  formed  upon  this  liberal  basis, 
and  fostered  in  this  spirit,  and  they  will  yield  you 
peace  and  honour,  where  they  might  otherwise  put  a 
cup  of  gall  and  wormwood  to  your  lips. 
22 


254          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

A  single  suggestion  more,  and  I  have  done.  You 
may  adopt  all  the  measures  commended  to  you  in 
this  Lecture,  in  respect  to  your  training,  your  habits, 
your  social  arrangements,  your  mercantile  plans,  and 
yet  lie  open  to  the  friendly  reproach  once  addressed 
to  a  young  man  as  blameless  and  as  lovely  as  the 
best  among  you  —  "  One  thing  thou  lackest !"  What 
can  all  these  precautions  and  efforts  do  for  you  with 
out  the  blessing  of  God  ?  Guard  you,  perhaps,  from 
premature  ruin ;  secure  you  the  esteem  and  confidence 
of  your  fellow-men ;  possibly  load  you  with  wealth. 
But  you  will  have  lived  to  little  purpose,  if  you  have 
lived  "without  Crod  in  the  world."  Your  earliest, 
greatest,  most  constant,  most  lasting,  necessity,  is, 
the  favour  of  God.  It  is  to  be  obtained  only  through 
the  atonement  and  mediation  of  Jesus  Christ.  If 
you  are  already  immersed  in  the  cares  of  business, 
his  friendship  will  do  more  than  anything  else  to 
shield  you  from  its  snares.  If  you  are  standing  at 
the  threshold  of  a  business-life,  every  consideration 
of  duty,  of  gratitude,  and  of  interest,  bids  you  sup 
plicate  his  mercy,  and  invoke  his  aid  in  the  framing 
of  your  plans.  Whatever  your  age,  position,  or  em 
ployment,  the  exhortation  comes  to  you  with  equal 
authority  and  wisdom  —  "  Seek  first  the  kingdom  of 
God  and  His  righteousness,  and  all  other  things 
shall  be  added  unto  you." 


A   COMPLAINT.  255 


Knlun 


DOMESTIC    LIFE,   AND    LITERARY    CULTURE,    OF    THE 

MAN   OF   BUSINESS. 

IN  an  old  number  of  the  Merchants'  Magazine, 
there  is  a  communication  headed,  "  COMPLAINT  OF  A 
MERCHANT'S  WIFE,"  the  writer  of  which,  after  pro 
testing  against  the  "unnatural,  slavish  devotion  to 
business,"  which  characterizes  the  merchants  of  the 
present  day,  discourses  in  the  following  strain :  — 

"  It  seems  to  me,  at  times,  as  if  there  were  no  more  men 
left  in  the  world:  they  have  all  become  citizens.  Their 
humanity  seems  merged  in  some  presidency  or  secretaryship. 
They  are  good  trustees,  directors,  cashiers,  bankers  :  but 
they  are  very  indifferent  husbands  and  fathers.  They  are 
utterly  without  social  chat;  they  read  no  pleasant  books; 
they  hate  the  sound  of  music;  they  visit  nobody;  they 
scarcely  deign  to  look  at  the  face  of  nature ;  and  for  their 
unhappy  wives,  they  must  put  up  with  cold  looks  and  cold 
words.  This  is  all  wrong,  Gentlemen.  It  is  a  sad  perversion 
of  life  ;  it  is  cruelly  unjust  to  us  and  our  daughters ;  and  it 
is  the  too  certain  source  of  deep  and  lasting  misery  to  those 


256          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

who  indulge  in  it.  Home  is  no  longer  the  garden  of  the, 
heart,  watched  over  by  love,  its  roses  kept  in  perennial 
"bloom;  but  thorns  and  briers  cumber  its  beauty.  But  I  feel 
this  matter  too  deeply  to  speak  in  metaphors.  My  own  do 
mestic  circle  is  fast  losing  its  charms,  and  becoming  more 
dismal  and  formal  than  a  hotel.  I  am  beginning  to  lose  all 
pride  in  my  household.  I  am  growing  daily  more  unsociable. 
My  health  and  temper  are  both  giving  way.  In  a  word,  I 
bitterly  feel  and  lament  the  want  of  that  sympathy  and  com 
munion  of  heart,  which  are  so  liberally  promised  us  in  the 
marriage-vow.  Come,  then,  Messrs.  Editors,  to  our  relief. 
Here  is  a  cause  worthy  of  your  pens.  Exhort,  frighten,  ridi 
cule,  if  you  can,  our  erring  husbands  into  a  return  to  their 
allegiance,  and  to  a  more  rational  and  happy  life." 

I  can  well  imagine  with  what  a  zest  the  merchants' 
wives  and  daughters  who  may  be  present,  will  listen 
to  this  earnest  and  intrepid  appeal.  Whatever  else 
in  these  discussions  may  have  been  dry  and  distaste 
ful  to  them,  this  will  have  their  commendation :  they 
will  be  ready  to  exclaim  with  a  common  impulse,  "A 
word  fitly  spoken,  is  like  apples  of  gold  in  pictures 
of  silver."  I  could  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  de 
fend  the  tribes  of  commerce  from  these  grave  impu 
tations.  They  have  assaults  enough  to  bear  from 
other  quarters,  without  encountering  volleys  of  arrows 
(tipped  with  anything  but  poison,  however)  from  their 
own  castles.  But  historic  verity  demands  a  qualified 
admission  of  the  truth  of  these  allegations.  It  must 


A   REPLICATION.  257 

be  conceded  that  the  "men"  have,  to  a  great  extent, 
been  transubstantiated  into  "  citizens,"  the  husbands 
and  fathers  into  merchants,  the  wives,  though  wives 
still,  into  widows,  and  the  children,  though  not  father 
less,  into  orphans.  —  But  let  us  hear  before  we  con 
demn. 

You  will  urge,  in  arrest  of  judgment,  that  "  the 
modern  methods  of  business  render  this  abandonment 
of  your  homes  unavoidable :  that  the  very  processes 
detailed  in  this  course  of  Lectures,  show  how  impera 
tive  and  exclusive  are  the  claims  of  commerce  upon 
the  men  engaged  in  it :  that  the  least  intermission  of 
vigilance  and  activity  on  your  part,  must  involve  you 
in  losses :  that  a  mode  of  life  which  severs  you  from 
your  domicils,  is  not  your  choice,  but  your  rigorous 
necessity :  and  that  when  the  inconveniences  experi 
enced  by  your  families,  are  compared  with  the  hard 
ships  they  would  ultimately  suifer  should  you  neglect 
your  business  to  attend  to  them,  you  will  be  deemed 
more  worthy  of  praise  than  of  censure  for  the  self- 
denial  you  are  practising." — Even  the  wives  and 
daughters  must  allow  that  this  is  an  ingenious  plea ; 
and  parties  more  disinterested,  will  feel  that  it  has 
real  force.  Within  certain  limitations,  it  is  impreg 
nable  :  but,  then,  it  is  those  unheeded  limitations, 
which  impart  weight  and  pungency  to  such  "  Com 
plaints"  as  that  we  have  quoted. 
22* 


258          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

It  may  turn  out,  for  example,  that  the  alleged  ab 
sorbing  demands  of  merchandize  are  restricted  to 
certain  portions  of  the  year,  and  that  at  other  periods 
there  is  no  invincible  necessity  laid  upon  you  to  be 
such  strangers  at  your  own  firesides.  With  the 
greater  part  of  the  merchants  in  our  large  cities, 
business,  instead  of  being  diffused  over  the  year,  comes 
in  two  mighty  torrents  or  avalanches,  of  a  few  weeks 
or  months  each.  While  these  last,  they  have  no 
resource  but  to  surrender  themselves,  body  and  soul, 
to  traffic.  They  have  no  time  for  domestic  enjoy 
ments.  Books,  friends,  visiting,  correspondence,  every 
thing  must  give  way.  Even  the  essential  functions 
of  eating  and  sleeping  are  dwarfed  into  the  most  frag 
mentary  performances.  Like  one  of  Dr.  Johnson's 
over-busy  characters  in  the  Idler,  whom  he  compares 
to  the  dogs  of  Egypt,  which,  when  driven  to  the  Nile 
by  thirst,  run  as  they  drink  for  fear  of  the  crocodiles, 
they  "dine  at  full  speed."  And  long  after  midnight, 
the  wratchmen  find  themselves  jostled  by  troops  of 
wearied  clerks  and  packers  making  their  way  home 
ward  to  catch  a  little  repose  before  the  rising  sun 
recalls  them  to  their  toil.  If  it  were  not  for  the 
beneficent  provision  of  a  DAY  OF  REST,  they  would, 
many  of  them,  finish  in  a  Lunatic  Asylum  or  an  early 
grave.  —  For  all  this,  there  seems  no  help.  The 
causes  which  are  at  work,  no  merchant,  nor  body  of 


CLAIMS    OF   HOME.  259 

merchants,  can  control.  And  it  were  a  most  unrea 
sonable  thing  in  a  wife  to  complain  of  her  husband 
for  not  neglecting  his  plantation  in  the  harvest-season, 
in  order  to  wait  upon  her.  Let  her,  rather,  do  what 
she  can  to  relieve  him  of  all  domestic  burdens,  and 
to  soothe  and  cheer  him,  as  many  a  wife  knows  how 
to  do,  under  his  exhausting  labours. 

But  these  periodical  excitements  are  followed  by 
protracted  calms.  Not  such  calms  as  would  justify 
remissness  in  superintending  your  counting-houses, 
but  periods  which,  if  managed  economically,  might 
leave  some  intervals  for  the  domestic  circle.  It  may 
fairly  be  required  that  these  opportunities  shall  be 
improved ;  that  when  no  paramount  engagements 
supervene,  your  time  and  thoughts,  no  less  than  your 
affections,  shall  be  given  to  your  homes;  and  that 
you  shall  omit  no  practicable  means  for  forwarding 
the  education  and  contributing  to  the  happiness  of 
your  households.  It  will  not  do  to  forget  that  the 
responsibilities  which  attach  to  the  head  of  the  family, 
are  intransferable ;  and  that  while  you  occupy  that 
position,  you  must  be  held  accountable  for  the  proper 
discharge  of  its  duties.  This  consideration  must  at 
times  press  with  great  solemnity  upon  the  minds  of 
thoughtful  men  who  are  much  separated  from  their 
children.  The  training  of  those  children  is  going 
forward  alike  in  your  presence  and  in  your  absence. 


260          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

Day  by  day,  their  faculties  are  maturing,  their  prin 
ciples  becoming  established,  their  habits  forming,  and 
their  whole  characters  assuming  the  essential  type 
they  are  to  bear  through  life  —  possibly,  through 
eternity.  This  is  your  trust  —  the  most  sacred,  the 
most  momentous,  trust,  God  has  confided  to  you.  To 
fulfil  it  wisely  and  well,  is  of  more  importance  to  you 
than  the  acquisition  of  a  fortune  or  the  attainment 
of  any  other  secular  end.  Nor  is  it  within  the  com 
pass  of  any  human  abilities  to  do  this,  unless  aided 
by  the  Spirit  of  God.  That  source  of  help  is,  hap 
pily,  open  to  you.  "  If  any  of  you  lack  wisdom,  let 
him  ask  of  God,  and  it  shall  be  given  him."  Every 
parent  who  appreciates  the  relation,  will  gratefully 
avail  himself  of  the  assistance  so  freely  tendered  him 
in  this  delicate  and  difficult  duty.  But  he  will  not 
rest  here.  The  temper  of  mind  which  sends  you  to 
the  throne  of  grace  for  succour,  will  put  you  upon 
using  all  the  appliances  within  your  reach,  to  multi 
ply  the  attractions  of  home  to  your  families,  and  to 
keep  their  affections  in  a  fresh  and  healthful  state. 
To  do  this,  you  will  need,  not  only  to  give  them  as 
much  of  your  society  as  you  can,  but  to  make  your 
intercourse  with  them  pleasant  and  improving.  For 
example,  it  cannot  fail  to  injure  them  if  the  whole 
burden  of  your  conversation  at  home,  is  about  busi 
ness,  and  stocks,  and  money,  and  the  like  ;  or  if  they 


CAUTIONS.  261 

see  that  you  have  no  relish  for  any  pursuits  except 
those  which  derive  their  value  from  dollars  and  cents. 
If  this  is  to  be  the  sum  and  substance  of  your  com 
panionship  with  them,  it  is  of  little  moment  that  you 
hurry  home  from  your  counting-rooms  to  see  them : 
your  absence  will  do  them  no  harm.  Or  if,  again, 
you  habitually  carry  into  domestic  life  a  fretful  or  an 
imperious  temper,  if  you  are  lavish  of  harsh  words  or 
cross  looks,  it  would  be  as  well  to  remit  the  training 
of  your  families  to  other  hands.  Neither  these,  nor 
any  other,  practical  errors  on  your  part,  will  be  harm 
less.  Such  is  the  authority  impressed  upon  the  head 
ship  of  the  house,  that  your  every  act  and  word  and 
look  and  gesture  —  and  what  you  leave  unsaid  and 
undone,  no  less  than  what  you  say  and  do  —  will  go 
to  fashion  the  moral  lineaments  of  those  deathless 
beings  around  you.  This  would  be  a  serious  matter, 
if  it  was  for  this  life  only  they  were  to  be  trained. 
But  we  cannot  limit  our  parental  responsibilities  thus. 
Our  obligations  extend  alike  to  the  bodies  and  the 
souls  of  our  children.  And  they  who  consider  the 
difficulty  of  extricating  one  soul  from  the  bondage  of 
sin  and  the  snares  of  the  world,  will  understand  some 
thing  of  the  charge  involved  in  preparing  a  household 
for  heaven.  Surely,  your  children  have  a  claim  upon 
you  for  all  the  help  you  can  afford  them  in  combating 
the  temptations  of  life :  and  it  is  neither  generous 


262          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

nor  just  to  withhold  from  the  mothers  that  co-opera 
tion  they  are  entitled  to  in  the  education  of  your 
offspring. 

It  is  another  weighty  consideration  bearing  upon 
this  point,  that  unless  you  avail  yourselves  of  present 
opportunities,  you  may  miss  altogether  that  endear 
ing  and  salutary  intercourse  with  your  families  which 
I  am  inculcating.  The  period  you  are  anticipating, 
when  a  discharge  from  business  is  to  leave  you  full 
scope  for  the  culture  of  domestic  pleasures,  may  never 
arrive.  How  many  of  your  contemporaries  and  neigh 
bours  have  been  arrested  by  death  in  the  midst  of 
their  cares  and  their  traffickings  !  While  you  are 
preparing  to  enjoy  the  society  of  your  families,  the 
relentless  reaper,  who  spares  no  age  nor  condition, 
may  cut  you  down.  At  the  very  moment,  possibly, 
when  your  plans  have  been  brought  to  a  successful 
consummation,  and  you  are  ready  to  begin  to  live.,  a 
vacant  seat  at  your  table  may  mark  the  transitoriness 
of  all  human  expectations. 

Nor  is  this  the  only  contingency.  Should  your 
life  be  spared,  your  release  from  business  may  come 
too  late  both  as  to  your  families  and  yourselves.  Too 
late  for  them :  because  their  training  may  be  com 
pleted.  In  the  education  of  your  children,  it  is  "now, 
or  never."  You  may  bend  the  sapling,  but  you  can 
not  bend  the  oak.  You  may  mould  the  clay,  but  you 


AFFECTIONS   BUSTED.  263 

cannot  mould  the  pottery.  Your  seed  will  germinate 
if  cast  into  the  genial  lap  of  Spring,  but  it  will  get 
no  sustenance  from  the  rugged  bosom  of  Winter.  If 
you  mean  to  have  any  useful  agency  in  fashioning 
the  characters  of  those  children,  this  is  the  time  to 
exert  it.  —  Your  prospective  season  of  leisure  may 
come  too  late  for  yourselves.  When  the  time  arrives 
for  domestic  enjoyment,  your  domestic  sympathies 
and  attachments  may  have  become  so  blunted,  that 
you  will  be  insusceptible  of  this  kind  of  happiness. 
There  are  other  things  besides  iron,  which  will  rust 
from  want  of  use :  other  attributes  of  humanity  be 
sides  bone  and  muscle,  which  depend  upon  exercise 
for  healthful  vigour.  A  neglected  home  is  apt  to 
become  an  undervalued  home.  The  bird  that  is  long 
away  from  its  nest,  may  not  care  to  return  to  it.  And 
it  is  somewhat  hazardous  for  a  man  to  discover  that, 
after  all,  he  can  "get  on"  and  really  enjoy  life,  with 
out  being  dependent  upon  the  pure  and  simple  plea 
sures  of  his  own  fireside.  The  way  to  shun  such  un 
toward  discoveries,  is  to  keep  the  flame  burning 
brightly  upon  your  domestic  altars,  from  the  time  it 
is  first  kindled,  until  death ;  to  let  nothing  but  the 
damp  of  the  grave  extinguish  or  enfeeble  it.  To 
neglect  this,  is  to  forego  the  purest  felicity  which  the 
fall  has  left  us.  Those  who  have  practised  it,  have 
found  that  life  was  too  short  to  exhaust  the  stores  of 


264          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

elevated  enjoyment  bound  up  in  the  domestic  consti 
tution  ;  too  fleeting  for  that  sacred  fellowship  of  home, 

"  So  friendly  to  the  best  pursuits  of  man, 
Friendly  to  thought,  to  virtue,  and  to  peace  I" 

This  is  not,  unhappily,  as  well  understood  as  it 
ought  to  be.  There  are  no  adequate  pains  taken  to 
perpetuate  the  freshness  of  early  affection,  and  to 
cherish,  as  time  wears  on,  the  sentiments  and  habits 
which  consecrate  the  earlier  experiences  of  married 
life.  "  A  person  may  be  highly  estimable  on  the  whole, 
nay,  amiable  as  neighbour,  friend,  housemate,  in  short, 
in  all  the  concentric  circles  of  attachment,  save  only 
the  last  and  inmost ;  and  yet  from  how  many  causes 
be  estranged  from  the  highest  perfection  in  this ! 
Pride,  coldness,  or  fastidiousness  of  nature,  worldly 
cares,  an  anxious  or  ambitious  disposition,  a  passion 
for  display,  a  sullen  temper,  one  or  the  other,  too 
often  proves  '  the  dead  fly  in  the  compost  of  spices,' 
and  any  one  is  enough  to  unfit  it  for  the  precious 
balm  of  unction.  For  some  mighty  good  sort  of 
people  too,  there  is  not  seldom  a  sort  of  saturnine, 
or,  if  you  will,  ursine  vanity,  that  keeps  itself  alive 
by  sucking  the  paws  of  its  own  self-importance.  And 
as  this  high  sense,  or  rather  sensation,  of  their  own 
value,  is  for  the  most  part  grounded  on  negative 
qualities,  so  they  have  no  better  means  of  preserving 


MISERY   AND    HAPPINESS.  265 

the  same  but  by  negatives,  that  is,  by  not  doing  or 
saying  any  thing  that  might  be  put  down  for  fond, 
silly,  or  nonsensical,  or  (to  use  their  own  phrase),  by 
never  forgetting  themselves,  which  some  of  their  ac 
quaintances  are  uncharitable  enough  to  think  the  most 
worthless  object  they  could  be  employed  in  remem 
bering.  The  same  effect  is  produced  in  thousands,  by 
the  too  general  insensibility  to  a  very  important  truth; 
this,  namely,  that  the  MISERY  of  human  life  is  made 
up  of  large  masses,  each  separated  from  the  other  by 
certain  intervals.  One  year,  the  death  of  a  child ; 
years  after,  a  failure  in  trade ;  after  another  longer 
or  shorter  interval,  a  daughter  may  have  married  un 
happily  ;  —  in  all  but  the  singularly  unfortunate,  the 
integral  parts  that  compose  the  sum  total  of  the  un- 
happincss  of  man's  life,  are  easily  counted,  and  dis 
tinctly  remembered.  The  HAPPINESS  of  life,  on  the 
contrary,  is  made  up  of  minute  fractions,  the  little 
soon-forgotten  charities  of  a  kiss,  a  smile,  a  kind  look, 
a  heartfelt  compliment  in  the  disguise  of  playful  rail 
lery,  and  the  countless  other  infinitesimals  of  plea 
surable  thought  and  genial  feeling."21 

These  suggestions  will  commend  themselves  to 
every  truly  cultivated  mind ;  but  it  would  be  unsuit 
able  for  me  to  enlarge  on  a  topic  so  engrossing,  and 

*  Coleridge. 

23 


266          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

which  I  have  had  occasion  to  discuss  at  some  length 
in  a  previous  course  of  Lectures.* 

There  is  a  second  point  pertaining  to  the  domestic 
life  of  the  merchant,  which  may  claim  a  passing 
notice  here.  It  is  a  question  often  agitated  and  vari 
ously  decided,  "  Should  a  merchant  consult  his  wife 
about  his  business  f  We  cannot  answer  it  catego 
rically.  It  may  be  the  misfortune  of  a  man  to  have 
a  wife  of  so  giddy  and  trifling  a  character,  that  the 
very  mention  of  business  would  be  an  offence  to  her. 
Or  a  wife  might  happen  to  have  so  many  "  confiden 
tial  friends,"  that  every  intimation  her  husband  con 
veyed  to  her  of  the  state  of  his  affairs,  would  be 
gazetted  far  and  near  in  the  course  of  a  day  or  two. 
Again,  the  answer  must  be  modified  by  the  import 
of  the  question.  If  the  inquiry  be,  "  Shall  a  mer 
chant  confer  with  his  wife,  as  with  his  copartners, 
about  all  the  details  of  his  commercial  transactions  ?" 
the  question  answers  itself.  A  woman  might  just  as 
well  annoy  her  husband  with  all  the  minutiae  of  her 
household  concerns.  But  in  the  sense  which  the 
question  usually  bears,  it  must  be  answered  with  a 
qualified  affirmative.  Involving,  as  the  matrimonial 
union  does,  an  identity  of  interest  and  fortune,  it 
seems  reasonable  that  a  wife  should  be  kept  apprized 

*  "  THE  BIBLE  IN  THE  FAMILY," 


WOMAN'S  RIGHTS.  267 

of  any  events  in  her  husband's  business,  having  an 
important  bearing  upon  their  mutual  well-being.  If 
a  benign  Providence  is  bearing  him  on  towards  wealth 
and  honour,  why  should  she  not  share  with  him  the 
pleasure  and  the  gratitude  it  inspires  ?  And  if  he 
is  threatened  with  reverses,  why  should  he  withhold 
the  knowledge  of  it  from  her  who,  of  all  human  be 
ings,  will  enter  into  his  anxieties  with  the  deepest 
sympathy  ?  The  wife  who  has  no  sympathy  in  her 
nature,  mistook  her  vocation  when  she  assumed  the 
bonds  of  wedlock :  the  husband  who  will  deny  a  wife 
the  luxury  of  sympathizing  in  his  trials,  has  forgotten 
that  memorable  day  when  she  stood  up  with  him,  a 
lovely  and  blushing  bride,  and  he  promised  before 
God  and  man,  to  "love,  honour,  and  cherish"  her 
till  death.  It  is  a  poor  commentary  on  this  vow,  to 
deprive  her  of  a  privilege  which,  if  she  have  true  con 
jugal  affection,  she  would  prize  more  than  all  his 
wealth,  or  all  the  conventional  attentions  he  may 
lavish  upon  her  "to  be  seen  of  men."  The  country 
is  just  now  ringing  with  a  coarse,  unseemly  clamour 
about  "  Woman  s  Rights'  —  a  mere  quarrel  of  cer 
tain  Amazons  with  Providence,  for  making  them 
women  instead  of  men.  Here,  however,  we  have  an 
incontestable  woman's  right,  the  right  of  a  wife  to 
sympathize  with  her  husband  in  his  joys  and  in  his 
sorrows.  A  wife  refused  this  right,  may  well  exclaim, 


268          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

"  Within  the  bond  of  marriage,  tell  me. 
Is  it  excepted  I  should  know  no  secrets 
That  appertain  to  you  ?     Am  I  yourself, 
But,  as  it  were,  in  sort,  or  limitation ; 
To  keep  with  you  at.  meals,  comfort  your  bed, 
And  talk  to  you  sometimes  ?  Dwell  I  but  in  the  suburbs 
Of  your  good  pleasure  ?     If  it  be  no  more, 
Then  am  I  not  your  wife !" 

Nor  is  this  the  only  ground  on  which  the  duty  may 
be  urged.  He  knows  but  little  of  the  weaker  sex, 
who  will  venture  to  deny  that,  as  a  general  charac 
teristic,  they  are  sagacious  counsellors  on  practical 
matters.  I  may  quote  again*  on  this  point,  an  ad 
mirable  observation  once  made  to  me  by  an  eminent 
divine  of  our  church  :  —  "We  will  say  nothing  of  the 
manner  in  which  that  sex  usually  conduct  an  argu 
ment,  but  the  intuitive  judgments  of  women  are  often 
more  to  be  relied  upon  than  the  conclusions  which  we 
reach  by  an  elaborate  process  of  reasoning."  It  may 
not  suit  our  pride  to  expatiate  too  often  in  domestic 
life  on  this  fact,  but  there  can  be  no  use  in  denying 
it,  and  it  is  only  standing  in  our  own  light  to  refuse 
to  take  advantage  of  it.  I  can  conceive  of  a  mer 
chant's  returning  home  at  evening,  after  a  day  of 
profound  and  anxious  consultation  with  his  partners 
about  a  projected  speculation  in  lands,  merchandize, 

*  See  "  BIBLE  IN  THE  FAMILY,"  Lecture  II. 


INTUITION.  269 

or  stocks.  You  have  ransacked  your  newspaper- 
files,  pored  over  your  commercial  dictionaries,  re 
viewed  your  former  operations,  examined  into  your 
resources,  looked  abroad  upon  the  state  of  the  world, 
and  canvassed  all  the  agencies,  political  and  financial, 
which  are  likely  to  influence  the  markets  for  some 
time  to  come,  and,  after  hours  of  discussing  and 
ciphering,  have  been  obliged  to  postpone  a  decision 
till  to-morrow.  In  this  state  of  mind  you  meet  your 
wife,  and  submit  the  vexed  problem  to  her:  and 
although  she  hears  but  the  merest  outline  of  it,  her 
mind  is  instantly  made  up  as  to  what  you  ought  to 
do,  and  she  gives  you  her  opinion  with  the  explicit- 
ness  of  a  judge  upon  the  bench.  Or,  your  firm  is 
in  trouble.  Fresh  claims  are  pressing  upon  fresh 
embarrassments.  You  have  no  conception  to-day 
how  the  notes  of  to-morrow  are  to  be  paid.  Loans 
and  discounts  are  becoming  more  difficult  to  negotiate. 
You  have  made  sacrifices  until  you  are  startled  at  the 
chasm  created  in  your  late  assets.  Haunted  with 
apprehensions  you  scarcely  dare  breathe  to  yourself, 
and  oppressed  with  a  burden  wrhich  is  drinking  up 
your  spirits,  you,  at  length,  in  broken  accents,  lay  the 
case  before  your  wife.  What  is  veiled  in  impenetrable 
darkness  to  your  eye,  is  all  luminous  to  hers.  She 
sees,  as  by  intuition,  what  you  ought  to  do ;  and  has 
the  mingled  courage  and  kindness  to  tell  you.  Un- 
23* 


270          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

impeded  by  the  endless  array  of  "  Whys"  and  "  Where: 
fores,"  of  "Ifs"  and  "Hows,"  which  have  confused 
your  calculations,  and  unsustained,  it  may  be,  by  any 
tangible  series  of  Baconian  inductions,  a  single  spring 
has  brought  her  to  a  conclusion,  which  she  enunciates 
with  as  much  confidence  as  though  she  had  received 
it  by  revelation. — And  in  both  these  cases,  the  prob 
ability  is,  the  wives  will  be  right.  If  you  do  not  get 
the  counsel  you  would  prefer,  you  will  get  that  which 
will  be  best  for  you,  and  which  it  will  be  unsafe  not 
to  follow.  How  many  firms  would  this  course  have 
restrained  from  hurtful  speculations !  How  many 
bankruptcies  would  it  have  relieved  of  their  most 
painful  features !  Why,  then,  is  it  not  more  fre 
quently  adopted  ?  I  will  tell  you. 

With  one  class  of  men,  the  reason  has  already  been 
hinted  at :  they  feel  that  it  is  a  sort  of  indignity  to 
consult  a  wife  on  matters  of  business.  This  is  their 
department,  and  they  are  presumed  to  know  how  to 
manage  it :  to  ask  counsel  of  a  wife,  is  to  confess 
their  insufficiency.  If  their  pride  could  stoop  to  seek 
advice  in  any  quarter,  it  would  not  be  from  a  woman. 
— r-  This  feeling  is  not  only  wrong,  but  ridiculous.  It 
proceeds  on  the  assumption,  that  they  are  competent 
to  deal  with  questions  which,  by  their  own  admission, 
have  baffled  them.  And  it  further  assumes,  what  is 
notoriously  false,  that  in  married  life  all  the  wisdom 


TOO    WISE   FOR   ADVICE.  271 

and  sagacity  are  necessarily  on  the  side  of  the  hus 
band.  A  man  of  large  and  comprehensive  views  will 
be  above  these  littlenesses.  Such  a  man  will  have 
no  fear  of  compromising  his  own  dignity  by  conferring 
with  an  intelligent  wife.  Inferior  to  himself,  she  may 
be,  in  strength  of  mind  and  in  information ;  and  yet 
she  may  have  qualities  which  will  make  her  a  safe 
Mentor.  The  most  learned  and  acute  jurists  often 
derive  the  greatest  assistance,  in  resolving  complex 
cases,  from  the  suggestions  of  their  associates  on  the 
bench,  although  they  may  be  men  of  only  second  or 
third  rate  talent.  And  the  man  who  is  above  asking 
counsel  of  any  body  whom  he  believes  to  be  a  shade 
below  himself  in  intellectual  vigour  or  various  know 
ledge,  merits  the  penalty  which  his  superciliousness 
will  be  sure  to  bring  upon  him.  In  the  conjugal 
relation  this  is  the  more  censurable,  because  the 
preponderance  of  character  may  be  really  with  the 
"weaker  vessel";  while  the  Solon  to  whom  she  is 
wedded,  only  exposes  his  own  imbecility  in  denying 
her  any  share  in  his  deliberations. 

This  course  may  be  adopted  from  a  very  different 
motive  —  an  unwillingness  on  the  part  of  a  merchant 
to  harass  the  mind  of  his  wife  with  his  troubles. 
This  is  an  amiable  and  honourable  sentiment,  and,  to 
a  certain  extent,  it  may  properly  influence  the  con 
duct.  But  it  should  not  be  carried  too  far  in  those 


272          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

emergencies  so  often  mentioned,  when  a  house  is  tot 
tering  to  its  foundations.  When  such  an  exigency 
occurs,  it  is  due  to  a  wife  that  she  should  be  apprized 
of  it.  This  would  preclude  the  revolting  incongruity 
of  which  any  of  our  cities  could  supply  examples,  of 
a  commercial  firm  struggling  on  for  months  together 
with  impending  bankruptcy,  while  their  domestic 
establishments,  the  while,  were  the  centres  of  the 
most  prodigal  luxury  and  extravagance.  It  is  further 
due  to  a  wife  because  she  is  a  wife,  and  as  such  must 
share  her  husband's  allotments.  They  took  each 
other  "for  better,  for  worse,  for  richer,  for  poorer"  ; 
and  if  either  is  in  trouble,  the  other  is  entitled  to 
know  it  and  participate  in  it.  Nor  is  any  other 
policy,  in  the  cases  we  are  considering,  compatible 
with  true  kindness.  When  the  blow  falls,  you  can 
no  longer  conceal  the  state  of  things.  Your  wife  will 
have  to  know  it  and  to  feel  it.  Through  your  mis 
taken  tenderness,  it  conies  upon  her  suddenly,  "like 
a  thief  in  the  night" :  whereas,  had  you  dealt  frankly 
by  her,  she  would  have  been  in  a  measure  prepared 
for  the  stroke.  If  you  were  to  submit  the  question 
to  ten  thousand  wives  in  succession,  "  whether  of  these 
two  courses  would  be  the  more  acceptable  to  them," 
you  would  probably  hear  but  one  response  —  "By  all 
means  let  me  know  when  there  is  danger  threatening, 
without  wniting  for  the  calamity  to  fall !"  —  Nor  must 


A   FAITHFUL   COUNSELLOR.  273 

it  he  lost  sight  of,  that  the  course  here  recommended, 
might  either  avert  or  mitigate  the  disaster.  The 
timely  advice  of  a  discreet  wife,  might,  by  the  bless 
ing  of  Providence,  save  you  from  insolvency;  or, 
failing  of  this,  it  might  keep  you  from  those  acts 
which  impart  to  insolvency  its  keenest  sting.  The 
observations  formerly  made  on  this  subject,*  show 
how  important  faithful  counsel  is  to  embarrassed 
merchants.  This  you  wrould  get  from  your  wives. 
The  thought  of  your  poverty  might  be  distressing  to 
them,  but  it  would  be  nothing  to  the  idea  of  your  dis 
honour.  They  would  see  and  appreciate  the  danger 
to  which  your  principles  were  exposed,  and  caution 
you,  with  all  firmness  and  affection,  against  bringing 
the  least  stain  upon  your  integrity.  They  would 
remind  you  that  an  untarnished  name  would  be  a 
better  legacy  to  them  and  their  children,  than  mil 
lions  of  money.  They  would  remonstrate  against 
your  postponing  the  crisis  until  all  your  resources 
were  consumed,  and  encourage  you  to  meet  at  once 
the  blow  which  had  become  inevitable.  They  would, 
possibly,  soothe  your  chafed  and  agitated  spirits,  not 
only  by  the  assiduities  of  affection,  but  by  the  higher 
ministrations  of  a  genuine  piety  —  bringing  oil  and 
wine  from  the  Gospel  to  cheer  you,  and  directing 
your  hopes  to  Him  who  is  the  Refuge  of  the  afflicted 

*  LECTURE  VI. 


274          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

and  the  Healer  of  the  broken-hearted. — These,  surely, 
are  objects  of  some  moment  to  a  man  harassed  with 
commercial  difficulties:  a  faithful  adherence  to  a  sim 
ple  rule  of  three  syllables,  would  ordinarily  secure 
them  to  you  —  TELL  YOUR  WIFE. 

Will  it  be  out  of  place  to  add  here,  that  there  are 
certain  correlative  obligations  answering  to  these  do 
mestic  duties  of  the  merchant?  If  he  is  bound  to 
bestow  all  the  time  he  can  upon  his  family,  they  are 
bound  to  make  his  home  as  agreeable  as  possible.  If 
it  behooves  him  to  cultivate  the  household  affections, 
they  must  not  neglect  it.  If  he  is  to  confer  with  his 
wife  on  matters  of  merchandize,  especially  in  seasons 
of  embarrassment,  it  will  not  answer  for  the  wife  to 
manifest  an  indifference  to  his  affairs,  still  less  to  do 
anything  which  may  increase  his  difficulties.  Exam 
ples  have  no  doubt  occurred  of  conjugal  officiousness, 
in  which  either  party  has  been  disposed  to  intermed 
dle  with  the  functions  proper  to  the  other  —  the  hus 
band  with  the  "house-keeping,"  the  wife  with  the 
counting-room.  A  woman  may  easily  shun  this  ex 
treme,  and  yet  take  that  sort  of  interest  in  her  hus 
band's  business,  which  has  been  indirectly  inculcated 
in  the  observations  just  addressed  to  merchants.  And 
whatever  her  tastes  may  be  on  this  point,  she  cannot, 
if  she  would,  avoid  having  a  great  deal  to  do  with  his 
business.  What  he  is  in  his  warehouse,  in  his  prin- 


THE  PATTERN  HOUSEWIFE.         275 

ciples  and  plans,  in  his  temper  and  manners,  will 
depend  very  much  upon  what  his  home  is.  And  his 
home,  again,  will  be  very  much  what  his  wife  sees  fit 
to  make  it.  There  are  homes  such  as  Milton  had  in 
his  eye  (his  own,  unhappily,  was  not  one  of  them,) 
when  he  wrote  the  lines  — 

"  For  nothing  lovelier  can  be  found 
In  woman,  than  to  study  household  good, 
And  good  works  in  her  husband  to  promote." 
A  greater  than  Milton  had,  upwards  of  two  thousand 
years  before  his  time,  drawn  the  portraiture  of  one 
of  these  very  wives  with  the  skill  of  a  master-limner. 
It  is  a  well-known  picture,  better  known  even  than 
the  most  celebrated  "Madonnas"  of  any  of  the  old 
painters ;  but  as  there  is  some  disposition  now-a-days 
to  deposit  it  in  the  antique  Galleries,  as  a  mere  his 
torical  gem,  I  feel  inclined  to  hang  it  up  before  your 
eyes :  — 

Who  can  find  a  virtuous  woman  ?  for  her  price  is  far  above 
rubies. 

The  heart  of  her  husband  doth  safely  trust  in  her,  so  that 
he  shall  have  no  need  of  spoil. 

She  will  do  him  good  and  not  evil  all  the  days  of  her  life. 

She  seeketh  wool,  and  flax,  and  worketh  willingly  with  her 
hands. 

She  is  like  the  merchants'  ships;   she  bringeth  her  food 
from  afar. 

She  riseth  also  while  it  is  yet  night,  and  giveth  meat  to  her 
household,  and  a  portion  to  her  maidens. 


276          THE    BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

She  considereth  a  field,  and  buyeth  it :  with  the  fruit  of, 
her  hands  she  planteth  a  vineyard. 

She  girdeth  her  loins  with  strength,  and  strengthened!  her 
arms. 

She  perceiveth  that  her  merchandize  is  good :  her  candle 
goeth  not  out  by  night. 

She  layeth  her  hands  to  the  spindle,  and  her  hands  hold 
the  distaff. 

She  stretcheth  out  her  hand  to  the  poor ;  yea,  she  reacheth 
forth  her  hands  to  the  needy. 

She  is  not  afraid  of  the  snow  for  her  household :  for  all  her 
household  are  clothed  with  scarlet. 

She  maketh  herself  coverings  of  tapestry ;  her  clothing  is 
silk  and  purple. 

Her  husband  is  known  in  the  gates,  when  he  sitteth  among 
the  elders  of  the  land. 

She  maketh  fine  linen,  and  selleth  it ;  and  delivereth  girdles 
unto  the  merchant. 

Strength  and  honour  are  her  clothing ;  and  she  shall  rejoice 
in  time  to  come. 

She  openeth  her  mouth  with  wisdom  ;  and  in  her  tongue 
is  the  law  of  kindness. 

She  looketh  well  to  the  ways  of  her  household,  and  eateth 
not  the  bread  of  idleness. 

Her  children  arise  up  and  call  her  blessed :  her  husband 
also,  and  he  praiseth  her. 

Many  daughters  have  done  virtuously,  but  thou  excellest 
them  all. 

Favour  is  deceitful,  and  beauty  is  vain :  but  a  woman  that 
feareth  the  Lord,  she  shall  be  praised. 

Give  her  of  the  fruit  of  her  hands  ;  and  let  her  own  works 
praise  her  in  the  gates. 


A   DOMESTIC   WOMAN.  277 

There  is  a  merchant's  wife  worth  having !  An 
Oriental  woman,  it  is  true,  but  there  is  nothing  in  her 
essential  attributes  and  habits  which  would  not  grace 
the  Occident  as  well  —  the  wives  of  Philadelphia  and 
Boston,  as  those  of  Jerusalem  and  Bagdad.  It  is  the 
picture,  for  example,  of  a  domestic  woman.  And  is 
not  this  meet  in  a  merchant's  wife  ?  I  do  not  mean 
that  she  should  make  her  house  a  cloister,  and  never 
stir  abroad.  But  let  her  know  what  the  word  HOME 
means.  Let  her  cherish  it  until  every  letter  in  it 
becomes  precious  to  her.  Let  her  understand  that 
her  empire  is  there.  And  let  her  find  her  happiness, 
next  to  religion,  in  administering  its  affairs  and  aug 
menting  the  felicity  of  its  subjects.  This  need  not 
preclude  her  from  the  interchange  of  social  courtesies 
and  the  fellowship  of  friends.  But  it  will  certainly 
present  a  life  in  striking  contrast  with  that  of  some 
wives,  whose  houses  are  to  them,  from  Christmas  to 
Lent,  very  much  what  they  are  to  their  husbands  in 
the  "  business-season"  —  mere  hotels. 

This  is  the  portrait,  again,  of  an  industrious  wo 
man  —  always  occupied  with  her  maidens  or  her  vine 
yard,  her  distaff  or  her  merchandize,  her  in-door  or 
her  out-door  cares.  Is  this  unseemly  in  a  merchant's 
wife  ?  The  same  occupations  may  not  demand  her 
care,  but  useful  occupation  of  some  sort  will  have  a 
claim  upon  her.  That  must  be  a  strange  household 
24 


278          THE   BIBLE    IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

which  supplies  the  head  of  it  with  no  employment : . 
and  that  a  curious  scheme  of  life,  which  permits  a 
woman  to  surrender  herself  to  her  slothful  propensi 
ties,  and  while  away  her  years  in  doing  nothing.  In 
a  very  characteristic  letter,  poor  Burns  says  of  the 
Muses,  "the  Nine  have  given  me  a  great  deal  of 
pleasure,  but,  bewitching  jades  !  they  have  beggared 
me :  for,  like  Solomon's  lilies,  the  idle  creatures  '  toil 
not,  neither  do  they  spin.'  '  It  might  be  ungenerous 
to  hint  that  there  may  have  been  merchants  who  were 
in  circumstances  to  use  this  identical  language  respect 
ing  their  wives.  Certainly,  a  wife  who  will  "  neither 
toil  nor  spin,"  nor  do  anything,  except  dress  and  visit 
and  lounge  and  read  novels,  might  "  beggar"  her 
husband,  even  though  she  "  gave  him  a  great  deal  of 
pleasure"  —  and  this  last  would  not  always  happen, 
for  it  is  only  men  that  have  received  "one  talent," 
or  a  fraction  of  a  talent,  who  take  "pleasure"  in  a 
wife's  spending  the  same  sort  of  life  as  a  portrait  or 
a  doll.  Employment  is  a  homely  but  important  ele 
ment  in  the  cup  of  domestic  happiness :  where  either 
party  lacks  or  neglects  it,  trouble  is  apt  to  follow. 
"  The  field  of  the  slothful,"  find  it  where  you  will,  is 
more  likely  to  be  covered  with  "thorns  and  nettles" 
than  with  flowers.  Even  the  flowers  of  affection,  the 
hardiest  of  all  plants,  will  die  out  there,  or  attain 
only  a  stunted  growth,  which  will  make  the  spectator 


TASTE   AND   NEATNESS.  279 

exclaim,  as  one  does  involuntarily  in  looking  at  a 
cluster  of  tiny  Alpine  roses  peering  through  the  frost, 
"  Poor  things  !  " 

Another  obvious  feature  in  the  picture  we  are  study 
ing,  is,  taste  and  neatness.  "  All  her  household  are 
clothed  with  scarlet.*  She  maketh  herself  coverings 
of  tapestry;  her  clothing  is  silk  and  purple.  Her 
husband  is  known  in  the  gates  when  he  sitteth  among 
the  elders  of  the  land"  —  known,  not  simply  by  his 
worth,  but  by  the  costly  robes  her  fingers  prepare  for 
him.  And  the  whole  sketch  suggests  the  image  of 
a  domestic  establishment  impressed  throughout  with 
cleanliness,  order,  and  beauty.  Our  merchant's  wife 
will  of  course  understand  this.  If  she  should  not,  it 
will  be  doing  her  a  kindness  to  say,  that  these  "  tri 
vial  matters"  are  of  moment  with  the  other  sex.  Men 
think  a  great  deal  of  neatness  and  taste  in  a  wife. 
It  will  not  satisfy  them  that  you  look  very  imposing 
when  arrayed  in  your  laces  and  jewelry  for  a  party. 
This  is  well  enough ;  but  it  may  be  more  than  neu 
tralized  by  a  careless  attire  and  an  untidy  house  in 
your  ordinary  arrangements.  Time  will  gradually 
blanch  your  personal  charms ;  and  there  is,  therefore, 
the  greater  reason  why  you  should  give  heed  to  those 

*  "  Scarlet"  —  or,  rather,  as  the  margin  has  it,  "  double 
garments."  So  Coverdale  —  "For  all  hir  householde  folkes 
are  duble  elo+^nri." 


280          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

"  little  things"  in  dress,  and  manner,  and  household 
dispositions,  which  have  a  wonderful,  though  imper 
ceptible,  effect  in  fostering  mutual  affection,  and  the 
neglect  of  which  will  be  certain  to  eat  like  a  subtle 
cancer  at  the  core  of  your  domestic  peace.  —  This  is 
not  to  encourage  extravagance.  You  may  be  ready 
to  appeal  to  the  "tapestry"  and  the  "  silk  and  the 
purple,"  of  this  model  housewife,  in  vindication  of 
your  own  expensive  habits.  But  have  you  considered 
where  she  procured  these  elegancies  ?  I  do  not  find 
that  she  went  to  her  husband,  and  got  him  to  draw 
some  thousands  of  dollars  from  his  business  to  pur 
chase  them  for  her.  As  I  read  the  passage,  they 
were  her  own  handiwork.  And  I  venture  to  express 
the  opinion,  that  no  merchant's  wife  will  be,  or  ought 
to  be,  impeded,  in  decorating  her  rooms  with  all  the 
"tapestry,"  or  her  person  with  all  the  "silk  and 
purple"  — which  she  shall  weave  herself.  You  may 
think  it  unreasonable  to  suggest  this  restriction ;  and 
perhaps  it  is.  But  it  is  not  more  so  than  the  luxury 
and  extravagance  which  have  reduced  so  many  mer 
chants  to  poverty.  The  key  to  no  inconsiderable 
portion  of  the  bankruptcies  which  occur,  is  to  be 
found,  not  in  the  counting-room,  but  in  the  drawing- 
room,  and  there  as  often  in  the  wife's  hand,  as  the 
husband's.  If  truth  could  give  way  to  courtesy,  this 
might  be  spared.  But  truth  will  give  way  to  nothing ; 


A   GRAVE   INDICTMENT.  281 

and  it  is  too  important  in  this  connexion  to  be  sup 
pressed.  An  old  writer,  who  has  given  us  a  revela 
tion  of  domestic  life  not  peculiar  to  his  own  age, 
brings  forward  one  of  his  characters  as  reproaching 
his  wasteful  wife  with  her  "  change  of  gaudy  furni 
ture,"  her 

"  mighty  looking-glasses,  like  artillery, 

Brought  home  on  engines;  the  superfluous  plate, 
Antique  and  novel ;  vanities  of  tires ;" 

and  other  articles.     He  proceeds  :  — 

"  I  could  accuse  the  gayety  of  your  wardrobe 
And  prodigal  embroideries,  under  which 
Rich  satins,  plushes,  cloth  of  silver,  dare 
Not  show  their  own  complexions.     Your  jewels, 
Able  to  burn  out  the  spectator's  eyes, 
And  show  like  bon-fires  on  you  by  the  tapers. 
Something  might  here  be  spared,  with  safety  of 
Your  birth  and  honour,  since  the  truest  wealth 
Shines  from  the  soul,  and  draws  up  just  admirers." 

Whether  there  were  any  merchants  at  the  disas 
trous  era  of  '37,  who  had  occasion  to  use  language 
of  this  kind,  I  shall  not  inquire ;  nor  would  it  become 
one  who  is  no  seer,  to  predict  whether  there  will  be 
any  at  the  next  financial  crisis  which  may  overtake 
the  country.  But  there  are  opinions  abroad  on  both 
these  points,  which  it  might  be  useful  to  some  people 
to  ponder. 
24* 


282         THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

The  ready  replication  to  this  will  be,  that  "it  is  un 
generous  to  impute  all  the  sin  of  extravagant  living  to 
the  wives,  since  they  are  in  many  instances  but  passive 
instruments  in  carrying  out  plans  to  which  they  are 
bound  to  conform."  This  would  do  if  "  all"  the  blame 
were  laid  at  their  door.  But  it  is  not :  where  no  cen 
sure  is  deserved,  none  is  intended.  It  is  not  enough, 
however,  to  exonerate  a  wife,  that  she  has  simply 
acquiesced  in  a  system  of  luxurious  expenditure  far 
beyond  her  husband's  income.  It  is  for  her  gratifi 
cation  in  a  good  measure,  that  he  has  gone  into  these 
excesses.  In  any  event,  she  might  have  prevented 
or  abridged  it.  Her  influence,  always  potential  at 
first,  could  have  been  exerted  to  induce  a  more  rational 
and  becoming  style  of  living ;  and  she  would  not  have 
pressed  this  point  in  vain.  But  the  woman  who  would 
do  this,  especially  the  bride  who  would  do  it,  is  one 
of  a  thousand.  The  prevailing  passion  with  people 
just  setting  out  in  married  life,  is  for  a  pomp  and 
display  wholly  unsuited  to  their  means.  Young  mer 
chants  have  no  conception  of  the  drain  such  an  estab 
lishment  will  be  upon  their  profits.  They  are  apt  to 
suppose  that  if  the  original  outfit  is  provided  (as  it 
may  be  by  a  marriage  settlement),  all  subsequent  in 
convenience  is  precluded ;  that  the  ship  once  launched 
will  take  care  of  itself.  But  this  conceit  is  soon  dis 
pelled.  What  with  rents  and  wages  and  wardrobe, 


HOW   TO   SET   OUT   IN   LIFE.  283 

amusements  and  equipage  and  entertainments,  the 
charges  to  private  account  on  the  books  of  the  firm, 
swell  with  an  ominous  progression,  until  the  business 
itself  reels  under  the  rapid  depletion,  and  betrays 
symptoms  of  an  approaching  syncope.  If  they  have 
the  moral  courage  to  curtail  their  expenses  and  adjust 
themselves  at  once  to  their  actual  position,  they  may 
escape  the  catastrophe.  But  when  a  ship  is  on  her 
beam-ends,  the  least  delay  may  be  fatal.  And  the 
imprudence  which  brings  about  a  crisis  of  this  sort, 
is  too  often  combined  with  a  pride  and  an  effeminacy 
of  principle,  which  will  hold  back  from  a  manly, 
straight-forward  discharge  of  duty,  until  the  oppor 
tunity  is  lost  and  the  blow  falls.  How  much  better 
to  have  studied  all  these  contingencies  at  the  com 
mencement  !  How  much  better  to  begin  with  mode 
ration,  and  end  with  honour  and  affluence ;  than  to 
begin  with  splendour,  and  end  with  premature  insol 
vency  !  If  the  husbands  will  not  consider  this,  let 
the  wives  think  of  it.  They  may  miss  the  hollow 
flatteries  which  circulate  among  the  gay  and  the 
frivolous,  but  they  will  secure  the  respect  of  that 
portion  of  society  whose  friendship  will  be  of  real 
advantage  to  them.  And  what  is  of  greater  moment, 
they  may  experience  the  protection  of  that  benign 
Being,  who  alone  can  crown  their  plans  with  success, 
and  make  their  prosperity  a  blessing  to  them. 


284          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

It  is  another  characteristic  of  the  "  virtuous  woman" 
set  before  us,  that  "  she  opens  her  mouth  with  wisdom, 
and  in  her  tongue  is  the  law  of  kindness;"  and  she 
makes  it  her  business  to  "do  her  husband  good,  and 
not  evil,  all  the  days  of  her  life."  "  She  shows  her 
love  to  him,  not  by  a  foolish  fondness,  but  by  prudent 
endearments,  accommodating  herself  to  his  temper, 
and  not  crossing  him,  giving  him  good  words,  and 
not  bad  ones,  no,  not  wrhen  he  is  out  of  humour ; 
studying  to  make  him  easy,  to  provide  what  is  fit  for 
him  both  in  health  and  sickness,  and  attending  him 
with  diligence  and  tenderness  when  any  thing  ails 
him ;  nor  would  she,  no,  not  for  the  world,  wilfully 
do  anything  that  might  be  a  damage  to  his  person, 
family,  estate,  or  reputation.  And  this  is  her  care 
4 all  the  days  of  her  life;'  not  at  first  only,  or  now 
and  then,  when  she  is  in  a  good  humour,  but  perpet 
ually  ;  and  she  is  not  weary  of  the  good  offices  she 
does  him.  She  does  him  good,  not  only  all  the  days 
of  his  life,  but  of  her  own  too :  if  she  survive  him, 
still  she  is  doing  him  good  in  her  care  of  his  children, 
his  estate,  and  good  name,  and  all  the  concerns  he 
left  behind  him."* 

And  herein  also  is  she  a  fit  pattern  for  our  mer 
chant's  wife.  For  the  cares  and  perplexities  of  busi 
ness  are  very  great ;  and  when  men  come  home  from 

*  Matthew  Henry. 


THE    LAW    OF   KINDNESS.  285 

their  counting-rooms,  jaded  and  oppressed  with  toil 
and  anxiety,  they  need  some  one  to  speak  to  them 
in  words  of  kindness  and  to  "  do  them  good."  And 
it  is  a  sad  and  pernicious  thing  if,  instead  of  this, 
they  are  met  with  harsh  tones  and  chilling  looks,  or 
have  the  load  upon  their  aching  backs  increased  by 
a  huge  accession  of  petty  domestic  grievances.  This 
is  "in  no  sense  meet  or  amiable." 

"  Thy  husband  is  thy  lord,  thy  life,  thy  keeper 
Thy  head,  thy  sovereign  ;  one  that  cares  for  thee, 
And  for  thy  maintenance  :  commits  his  body 
To  painful  labour,  both  by  sea  and  land; 
To  watch  the  night  in  storms,  the  day  in  cold, 
While  thou  liest  warm  at  home,  secure  and  safe; 
And  craves  no  other  tribute  at  thy  hands, 
But  love,  fair  looks,  and  true  obedience :  — 
Too  little  labour  for  so  great  a  debt." 

And  to  refuse  even  this  requital,  is  to  come  short,  not 
merely  of  conjugal  duty,  but  of  the  magnanimity 
proper  to  your  sex  in  general. 

It  is  mentioned  as  the  crowning  excellence  of  the 
character  we  are  contemplating,  that  she  "fears  the 
Lord."  "  Favour  is  deceitful,  and  beauty  is  vain : 
but  a  woman  that  feareth  the  Lord,  she  shall  be 
praised."  In  man  or  woman,  there  is  no  adequate 
foundation  for  true  and  lasting  esteem  but  this.  Per 
sonal  beauty,  which  has  so  much  to  do  with  making 
marriages,  is  no  infallible  index  of  real  worth,  and  no 


286          THE   BIBLE   IX   THE    COUNTIXG-HOUSE. 

sure  pledge  of  domestic  happiness.  It  is  exposed  to 
the  inroads  of  time,  sickness,  sorrow,  and  decay; 
and  may  wither  at  the  very  meridian  of  life.  The 
"beauty  of  holiness,"  on  the  other  hand,  is  as  inde 
structible  as  the  soul  itself.  Earthly  vicissitudes  pro 
duce  no  impression  upon  it.  It  flourishes  alike  in  the 
shade  and  in  the  sunshine.  Disease  and  suffering, 
trials  and  losses,  only  clothe  it  with  fresh  lustre. 
The  more  it  is  crushed,  the  sweeter  is  the  fragrance 
it  emits.  The  character  it  embellishes,  enshrines  the 
elements  of  the  very  highest  style  of  excellence  known 
to  created  beings.  And  if  there  is  any  attribute  which 
is  to  be  prized  above  all  others,  whether  in  single  or 
in  married  life,  it  is  undoubtedly  genuine  religion.  I 
say  not  that  this  alone  will  make  a  wife  what  she 
ought  to  be :  but  this  is  the  most  essential  quality 
for  a  wife ;  and  no  assemblage  of  virtues  and  accom 
plishments  can  compensate  for  the  absence  of  it. 
Those  merchants  may  well  esteem  themselves  happy, 
whose  homes  are  lighted  up  with  the  beams  of  a 
perennial  and  cheerful  piety. 

It  will  be  no  very  violent  transition,  to  pass  from 
the  domestic  life  of  the  merchant,  to  his  LITERARY 
OPPORTUNITIES.  The  subject  is  one  of  large  extent ; 
but  it  did  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  these  Lectures, 
to  discuss  it  in  detail.  Some  reference  to  it,  however, 


LITERARY   OPPORTUNITIES   OF   MERCHANTS.     287 

especially  as  it  may  be  connected  with  the  morals  of 
trade,  will  be  deemed  indispensable. 

In  the  glimpses  we  have  just  had  of  a  merchant's 
household,  as  it  should  be,  one  of  the  scenes  which 
must  have  passed  before  the  eye  of  every  auditor,  is 
that  of  the  man  of  commerce  enjoying  an  occasional 
hour  with  the  great  authors  in  his  Library,  or  seated, 
book-in-hand,  with  his  family  around  the  centre-table. 
This  is  a  refreshing  sight.  It  is  worthy  to  be  pon 
dered  by  the  restless  throng  of  traffickers  who  have 
gradually  repudiated  all  books  except  Journals  and 
Ledgers,  and  by  the  crowds  of  young  men  who  are 
just  embarking  in  a  mercantile  career.  There  are 
those,  it  may  be,  in  whose  breasts  the  scene  would 
only  excite  emotions  of  contempt.  "  Practical  men," 
as  they  are  termed,  are  apt  to  despise  "  book-learn 
ing."  It  was  one  of  these  sages,  who,  having  adver 
tised  for  a  clerk,  asked  each  applicant,  as  he  appeared, 
"  whether  he  understood  Latin,"  and  on  receiving  an 
affirmative  answer,  dismissed  him  without  further  in 
quiry.  The  feeling  is,  that  "  learning"  tends  to  dis 
qualify  a  person  for  business,  that  it  makes  him 
speculative  and  "notional,"  and  blunts  his  wits  for 
scenting  out  customers  and  driving  bargains.  Exam 
ples  are  readily  cited,  of  illiterate  individuals  who 
were  celebrated  for  their  shrewdness,  and  made  great 
fortunes.  And  "  if  they  got  rich  without  books,  books 


288          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

would  be  more  of  a  hindrance  than  a  help,  to  others 
who  are  aiming  at  the  same  end." — This  is  merchan 
dize  with  a  witness.  The  loftiest  conception  of  hu 
man  life  these  people  are  capable  of  forming,  is  that 
of  a  machine  for  making  money.  The  nobler  part 
of  their  nature  is  not  recognized  in  their  theory. 
They  seem  not  to  know  that  they  have  souls.  They 
scarcely  know  that  they  are  endowed  with  reason. 
Certainly  they  ignore  all  the  higher  functions  and 
uses  of  reason,  and  degrade  it,  as  far  as  possible,  to 
the  level  of  the  better  sort  of  brutes.  I  disparage 
not  a  business-life.  I  look  with  no  disfavour  upon 
legitimate  accumulation.  I  greatly  honour  the  man 
who  secures,  by  honest  means,  a  competent  or  opu 
lent  estate,  and  employs  it  in  doing  good.  But  look 
at  MAN,  the  crown  and  glory  of  this  lower  creation, 
the  wondrous  mechanism  of  his  frame,  the  more  won 
drous  mechanism  of  his  mind,  his  capacious  intellect, 
his  imagination,  his  conscience,  his  immortality,  and 
say  whether  the  end,  the  paramount  end,  for  which 
he  was  sent  into  this  world,  was,  "  to  buy  and  sell 
and  get  gain  !"  Nature,  if  she  were  allowed  to  speak, 
would  rebuke  this  sordid  theory.  She  would  tell  you 
that  you  were  enslaving  the  understanding  to  the 
senses,  the  man  to  the  animal.  She  would  remon 
strate  against  your  setting  earth  above  heaven,  and 
time  before  eternity.  She  would  remind  you  that 


CRAMPING   TENDENCIES    OF   TRADE.  289 

your  trafficking  must  in  any  event  be  abandoned,  and 
your  gold  and  silver  relinquished  after  a  few  days  or 
years,  and  that  if  all  your  training  and  your  happi 
ness  were  summed  up  in  hoarding,  you  would  be 
miserably  unprovided  for  a  world  where  trade  and 
its  implements  are  unknown.  And  she  would  admon 
ish  you,  that  these  faculties,  the  culture  of  which  you 
now  hold  in  such  contempt,  would  constitute  an  es 
sential  part  of  your  being  for  ever,  and  be  a  perpetual 
means  of  the  purest  enjoyment  or  of  the  keenest 
suffering,  according  to  your  treatment  of  them  here. 
It  is,  in  fact,  the  tendency  of  trade  to  cramp  the 
intellect  and  inspire  these  mercenary  views,  which 
makes  it  proper  even  for  the  pulpit  to  protest  against 
your  neglect  of  liberal  studies.  The  learned  profes 
sions  are  not  exempt  from  this  bias.  An  exclusive 
devotion  to  any  one  of  them,  will  make  a  narrow, 
stereotype  character,  vigorous,  perhaps,  in  certain 
faculties,  but  deficient  in  that  amplitude  and  sym 
metry  which  belong  to  truly  great  minds.  And  in 
your  avocation,  the  danger  from  this  source,  is,  for 
obvious  reasons,  much  more  imminent.  If  this  con 
sideration  were  without  force,  the  prejudice  against 
literary  studies,  more  or  less  prevalent  in  your  ranks, 
might  be  refuted  on  strictly  commercial  grounds.  For 
there  is  no  kind  of  knowledge  which  may  not  be  use 
ful  to  a  merchant  in  a  pecuniary  way.  The  man 
25 


290          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

who  is  conducting  an  extensive  business,  should  be  at 
home  in  the  history,  geography,  and  politics,  of  the 
leading  nations  of  the  globe.  He  should  be  familiar 
with  the  staple  products  of  every  clime,  with  the  prin 
ciples  of  political  economy  and  finance,  with  revenue 
and  quarantine  laws,  with  the  commercial  usages  of 
different  countries  and  their  modes  of  intercommuni 
cation,  with  the  manufacturing  processes  pertaining 
to  his  own  branch  of  traffic,  with  the  adaptation  of 
various  articles  to  land  and  marine  transportation,  and 
with  the  moral  traits  of  every  people  whose  ports  his 
ships  may  visit.  I  know  an  earnest  and  accomplished 
scholar  who  has  said  in  one  of  his  books,  that  if  he 
could  learn  how  the  topmost  stone  on  Chimborazo  lay, 
he  would  deem  it  an  item  of  information  worth  pos 
sessing.  A  merchant  should,  in  the  same  spirit,  pick 
up  knowledge  in  every  direction  and  on  all  subjects. 
He  must  "  sow  beside  all  waters  :"  for  he  cannot  tell 
what  he  may  want.  There  is  a  story  told  of  a  young 
man  who,  when  at  a  university,  refused  to  attend  lec 
tures  on  Euclid,  because  he  was  a  man  of  fortune, 
and  never  likely  to  become  a  carpenter !  And  no 
thing  is  more  common  than  for  college-students  to 
proceed  upon  the  same  vicious  principle,  picking  and 
culling  among  the  studies,  so  as  to  confine  themselves 
to  such  as  will  be  of  service  to  them  in  after-life  — 
an  error  for  which  "  after-life"  often  makes  them  pay 


ADVANTAGES    OF   SUPERIOR   KNOWLEDGE.      291 

very  dearly.  —  Superior  knowledge  would  give  you 
an  advantage  over  competitors ;  and  save  you  from 
those  disastrous  mistakes  into  which  firms  are  so  often 
led  by  a  blind  confidence.  It  would  help  to  guard 
you  against  disasters  :  and  if  disasters  came,  it  would 
assist  you  in  retrieving  your  losses,  or  in  turning  your 
attention  to  some  new  avocation.  It  would  enhance 
your  personal  influence  in  the  community.  "  Know 
ledge  is  power."  The  very  capitalists  who  affect  to 
despise  it,  are  made  to  feel  this,  when  they  contrast 
the  respect  which  is  paid,  in  commercial  circles,  to  a 
really  intelligent  merchant,  with  the  mere  ceremonious 
homage  rendered  (not  to  themselves,  but)  to  their 
wealth.  —  On  strictly  professional  grounds,  then  — 
on  the  scale  of  dollars  and  cents  —  it  becomes  mer 
chants  to  "give  attention  to  reading." 

In  our  day  this  has  become  more  important  than 
ever,  by  reason  of  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge. 
Education  is  no  longer  the  prerogative  of  the  great. 
It  has  put  off  its  purple  robes  and  silver  slippers,  and 
come  down  to  tabernacle  with  the  masses.  The  world 
is  waking  up  to  the  pregnant  fact,  that  man  is  com 
posed  of  something  besides  bone  and  muscle.  The 
universal  clamour  is  for  "Education."  The  labour 
ing  classes  are  still  willing  to  work,  but  they  are  not 
willing  to  be  mere  spinning-jennies  and  dredging- 
machines.  And  science,  with  a  noble  philanthropy 


292          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

which  outshines  all  the  jewels  in  its  radiant  coronet,, 
is  stooping  to  their  necessities,  and  popularizing  itself 
to  satisfy  these  passionate  cravings  of  humanity. 
This  movement  is  too  broad  and  too  powerful  for  any 
class  or  profession  not  to  be  affected  by  it.  It  has 
told  upon  the  forum  and  upon  the  pulpit,  as  well  upon 
the  politics  and  the  jurisprudence  of  the  world,  as 
upon  its  literature  and  its  "socialism."  The  com 
mercial  body  cannot,  if  they  would,  escape  its  influ 
ence.  If  merchants  will  not  fall  in  with  it,  it  will 
leave  them  high  and  dry  upon  the  shoals  of  ignor 
ance,  a  warning  and  a  by-word  to  the  crowds  who 
sweep  past  them  in  the  eager  strife  for  knowledge. 
Nor  will  it  suffice  that  you  set  out  with  an  education. 
It  is  as  indispensable  to  feed  the  mind  as  the  body. 
You  might  as  well  expect  the  meals  of  to-day  to  keep 
up  your  physical  strength  and  elasticity  for  a  fort 
night  to  come,  as  to  rely  upon  your  original  stock  of 
ideas  to  nourish  your  intellectual  faculties  through  the 
rest  of  your  life.  Men  often  try  this  —  merchants, 
perhaps,  oftener  than  any  others  —  and  you  know 
how  they  succeed.  You  must  have  seen  specimens 
of  the  sort  —  individuals  who  have  trafficked  for  a 
score  or  two  of  years  on  their  primitive  stock  of 
ideas ;  reading  no  useful  books,  shunning  all  public 
discussions  and  lectures,  making  no  efficient  use  of 
their  powers  of  observation,  adding  nothing  to  their 


PROSERS.  293 

modicum  of  information  except,  as  a  sponge  gathers 
moisture  from  the  atmosphere,  by  unavoidable  ab 
sorption,  and  for  ever  harping  upon  one  string,  and 
pestering  all  companies  on  all  occasions  with  the  same 
petrified  topics :  —  why,  what  is  this  better  than 
heading  pins  for  a  life-time,  or  harnessing  one's  self 
to  the  horse  who  is  doomed  to  the  endless  gyrations 
of  a  bark-mill  ?  This  is  no  life  for  a  human  being, 
certainly  not  for  one  who  aspires  to  a  respectable 
place  in  society  and  expects  to  be  the  companion  of 
cultivated  men.  And  the  only  way  to  elude  it,  is,  to 
keep  pouring  truth  into  the  mind,  and  recruiting  its 
stock  of  ideas  from  every  available  source.  Truth  is 
the  soul's  aliment,  and  it  is  a  worse  crime  against 
nature  to  starve  the  soul,  than  to  famish  the  body. 
"  It  is  not  the  mere  cry  of  moralists  and  the  flourish 
of  rhetoricians ;  but  it  is  noble  to  seek  truth,  and  it 
is  beautiful  to  find  it.  It  is  the  ancient  feeling  of 
the  human  heart, — that  knowledge  is  better  than 
riches ;  and  it  is  deeply  and  sacredly  true  !  To 
mark  the  course  of  human  passions  as  they  have 
flowed  on  in  the  ages  that  are  past ;  to  see  why  na 
tions  have  risen  and  why  they  have  fallen ;  to  speak 
of  heat  and  light  and  winds ;  to  know  what  man  has 
discovered  in  the  heavens  above,  and  in  the  earth  be 
neath;  to  hear  the  chemist  unfold  the  marvellous 
properties  that  the  Creator  has  locked  up  in  a  speck 
25* 


294          THE   BIBLE   IX   THE   COUXTING-HOUSE. 

of  earth ;  to  be  told  that  there  are  worlds  so  distant 
from  our  sun,  that  the  quickness  of  light  travelling 
from  the  world's  creation,  has  never  yet  reached  us ; 
to  wander  in  the  creations  of  poetry,  and  grow  warm 
again  with  that  eloquence  which  swayed  the  democ 
racies  of  the  old  world ;  to  go  up  with  great  reasoners 
to  the  FIRST  CAUSE  of  all,  and  to  perceive  in  the 
midst  of  all  this  dissolution,  and  decay,  and  cruel 
separation,  that  there  is  one  thing  unchangeable,  in 
destructible,  and  everlasting ;  —  it  is  worth  while  in 
the  days  of  our  youth  to  strive  hard  for  this  great 
discipline ;  to  pass  sleepless  nights  for  it,  to  give  up 
to  it  laborious  days ;  to  spurn  for  it  present  pleasures ; 
to  endure  for  it  afflicting  poverty;  to  wade  for  it 
through  darkness  and  sorrow  and  contempt,  as  the 
great  spirits  of  the  world  have  done  in  all  ages  and 
all  times." 

"All  this,"  I  can  fancy  I  hear  some  of  my  auditors 
saying  to  themselves,  "is  very  true  and  very  fine : 
but  why  tantalize  us  in  this  way  ?  We  are  over 
tasked  now :  how  is  it  possible  for  us  to  find  time  for 
reading?"  This  question  is  fairly  put,  and  shall  be 
as  fairly  answered. 

I  should  be  extremely  sorry  to  have  the  merchants 
or  clerks  before  me  suppose,  that  I  am  insensible  to 
the  disadvantages  they  labour  under  in  repect  to 
literary  culture.  At  certain  seasons  of  the  year, 


OCTAVOS   IN   MARCH.  295 

particularly,  to  exhort  them  to  reading,  would  be 
about  as  rational  as  to  ask  them  to  fly.  It  would  be 
worth  while,  for  example,  to  see  the  look  with  which 
a  corps  of  clerks  in  one  of  our  jobbing-houses,  would 
receive  a  philanthropic  citizen  who,  on  any  day  of 
this  coming  week,  should  make  his  way  into  their 
establishment  through  draymen  and  porters  and  coop 
ers  and  packers  and  messengers,  and  the  throng  of 
impatient  customers  from  the  "far  West"  and  the 
far  South  and  all  the  sub-cardinal  points  between, 
and  blandly  request  them  "  to  peruse  the  very  inte 
resting  and  valuable"  octavo  he  might  tender  to  them. 
I  am  sure  they  would  say  nothing  rude  in  reply  to 
him.  The  ludicrousness  of  the  thing  would  banish 
every  harsh  feeling,  and  light  up  their  shrewd  and 
care-worn  faces  with  a  smile  of  blended  astonishment 
aad  incredulity  which  would  at  least  do  them  good, 
even  if  it  failed  to  enlighten  their  benevolent  visitor. 
But  March  does  not  take  up  the  whole  Calendar. 
You  are  no  more  buried  amongst  bales  and  boxes 
during  the  entire  year,  than  is  the  husbandman  em 
ployed  from  January  to  December  in  harvesting  his 
crops.  During  most  of  the  months,  a  just  sense  of 
the  value  of  time,  combined  with  a  well-arranged 
system,  would  secure  you  frequent  opportunities  for 
study.  You  may  not  think  so  if  you  consult  simply 
your  present  habits,  or  inquire  of  your  associates  and 


296          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

neighbours.  But  go,  when  you  have  a  breathing- 
spell,  to  that  noble  monument  of  Christian  philan 
thropy,  the  "INSTITUTION  FOR  THE  BLIND,"  in  the 
north-western  part  of  our  city,  and  learn  whether  your 
path  up  the  hill  of  science,  is  a  rougher  one,  than  that 
which  these  children,  who  dwell  in  perpetual  dark 
ness,  are  treading  with  so  elastic  a  step.  Or,  take 
up  the  volumes  entitled,  "  THE  PURSUIT  OF  KNOW 
LEDGE  UNDER  DIFFICULTIES,"  and  see  what  was 
accomplished  by  Arkwright  and  Ferguson,  Saunder- 
son  and  Heyne,  Franklin  and  Fulton,  and  hosts  of 
others  whose  names  shine  in  the  glorious  galaxy  of 
self-made  men.  If  they  did,  why  may  not  you? 
There  can  be  few  among  the  young  men  in  our 
Counting-Houses,  whose  situation  in  respect  to  intel 
lectual  improvement,  is  not  superior  to  that  of  any 
one  of  the  six  individuals  just  mentioned  in  their  early 
days.  One  great  secret  of  their  success  lay  in  the 
profound  art  of  economizing  time.  You  have  stood, 
doubtless,  by  one  of  the  ingenious  machines  in  our 
Mint,  and  seen  the  brilliant  and  beautiful  coin  drop 
ping  into  the  receiver  at  the  rate  of  a  hundred  to  the 
minute,  and  your  feeling  has  been,  "How  happy 
should  I  be  if  I  could  coin  money  for  myself  at  this 
rate  !"  But  you  are  all  coiners  —  and  that,  of  some 
thing  which  might  be  worth  more  to  you  than  all  the 
deposits  at  the  Mint.  Every  fleeting  second  receives 


THE  INDESTRUCTIBLE   COINAGE.  297 

from  you  a  brand  more  indelible  than  any  which  the 
die  imparts  to  the  metal ;  and  if  you  are  careful  to 
have  every  impression  what  it  should  be,  you  will,  in 
the  end,  be  richer  in  intellectual  and  moral  wealth 
than  Croesus  ever  was  in  the  gold  that  perisheth.  It 
was  by  taking  care  of  these  seconds,  "  the  gold  dust 
of  time,"  that  the  men  we  have  named  and  their  fel 
lows,  rose  to  eminence  and  honour.  I  have  styled 
this  "a  profound  art,"  and  so  it  is.  Not  one  in  a 
thousand  understands  it.  Franklin  himself  declares 
that  in  carrying  out  his  curious  scheme  for  "  arriving 
at  moral  perfection,"  his  rule  of  Order,  which  ran 
thus,  "  Let  all  your  things  have  their  places :  let  each 
part  of  your  business  have  its  time,"  gave  him  more 
trouble  than  any  other  part  of  it.  By  perseverance, 
however,  he  mastered  it  in  some  good  degree ;  and 
we  may  all  do  the  same. 

Many  of  those  who  imagine  that  they  cannot  pos 
sibly  find  leisure  for  useful  books,  actually  devote  a 
great  deal  of  time  to  certain  kinds  of  reading.  It  is 
one  of  the  incidental  results  of  the  science  and  enter 
prise  of  the  day,  that  our  country  is  flooded  with  a 
"  cheap  literature,"  native  and  exotic,  no  small  por 
tion  of  which  is  very  trashy  or  very  pernicious. 
Young  men  are  apt  to  resort  to  publications  of  this 
sort  for  pastime.  The  latest  French  or  German  novel 
(pamphlet  edition,  double  column,  and  miserable  pa- 


298          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

per),  or  the  last  volume  of  "  Capital  Trials"  or  "Aw 
ful  Murders,"  might  be  found  lying  upon  the  small 
table  in  their  dormitory,  or  tucked  away  on  one  of 
the  shelves  of  the  warehouse,  to  be  devoured  by 
snatches  when  the  principals  "  are  not  about."  As 
a  natural  consequence,  they  have  no  relish  for  sub 
stantial  reading.  The  palate  pampered  on  highly- 
seasoned  dishes,  revolts  at  simple  and  nutritious  food. 
The  more  the  imagination  is  indulged  with  these 
stimulating  doses,  the  stronger  will  be  its  cravings. 
It  is  a  well-authenticated  fact,  that  "  the  inveterate 
thieves  of  London  make  it  a  practice  to  attend  all  the 
executions,  not  so  much  for  an  opportunity  of  picking 
pockets,  as  for  the  pleasure  of  excitement,  which, 
through  the  very  exciting  nature  of  their  lawless  pur 
suits,  they  become  incapable  of  deriving  from  any 
ordinary  source."  And  on  the  same  principle,  a 
mind  accustomed  to  such  reading  as  has  been  referred 
to,  will  collapse  unless  supplied  with  overwrought  nar 
ratives  and  extravagant  fictions. 

But  light  literature  has  an  accomplice,  which  must 
also  be  arraigned  here.  Dr.  Franklin,  in  writing 
from  Philadelphia  to  the  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  in 
1786,  complains  that  "  the  reading-time  of  most  peo 
ple  was  so  taken  up  with  Newspapers  and  periodical 
pamphlets,  that  few  now-a-days  ventured  to  attempt 
any  solid  reading."  So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to 


NEWSPAPERS.  299 

ascertain,  there  were  at  that  period  printed  in  Phila 
delphia,  two  small  weekly  newspapers,  and  one  daily, 
commenced  two  years  before.  I  think  it  must  have 
been  this  last  paper,  the  "  Pennsylvania  Packet," 
(which  finally  ripened  into  that  sedate,  time-honoured 
journal,  "  Poulson's  American  Daily  Advertiser,") 
that  did  the  mischief  the  venerable  sage  so  feelingly 
deplores.  However  that  may  have  been,  if  the  news 
paper  press  of  that  day  laid  itself  open  to  this  grave 
censure,  what  must  be  said  of  it  now  ?  —  This  is  deli 
cate  ground.  Who  stands  upon  so  proud  an  eminence 
that  he  can  rebuke  his  neighbours  for  their  devotion  to 
the  newspaper,  without  exposing  himself  to  the  retort 
—  "Physician,  heal  thyself!"  I  frankly  confess, 
not  I.  My  house  is  of  glass,  I  fear  very  thin  glass, 
and  it  is  not  safe  for  the  tenant  to  be  too  forward  in 
throwing  stones.  There  are  few  bills  I  pay  more 
cheerfully,  than  those  for  my  newspapers. 

"  This  folio  of  four  pages,  happy  work ! 
Which  not  ev'n  critics  criticise ;  that  holds 
Inquisitive  attention,  while  I  read, 
Fast  bound  in  chains  of  silence,  which  the  fair, 
Though  eloquent  themselves,  yet  fear  to  break ; 
What  is  it  but  a  map  of  busy  life, 
Its  fluctuations  and  its  vast  concerns  ?" 

And  yet  I  cannot  in  my  heart  approve  of  the  pre 
vailing  passion  for  newspapers  :  nor  endorse  at  all 


300          THE   BIBLE    IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

the  common  plea  of  mercantile  men  that  they  have 
"no  time  for  books."  In  particular  cases,  this  is  no 
doubt  true.  But  look  at  one  of  these  gentlemen  as 
he  goes  home  to  his  tea :  what  is  that  huge  roll  in 
his  hand  or  projecting  from  his  surtout  pocket? 
Newspapers.  And  if  it  happen  to  be  a  Friday  or 
Saturday  evening,  when  the  "Weeklies"  are  super- 
added  to  the  "Dailies,"  he  will  have  typography 
enough  in  his  parcel  to  make  a  large  octavo  volume 
or  a  pair  of  them.  And  what  is  more,  he  will  go 
through  writh  it.  This  "very  busy"  merchant,  who 
is  so  oppressed  with  care  that  he  has  not  "  a  moment's 
time  for  reading,"  will  travel  through  one  folio  page 
after  another  until  he  has  mastered  the  contents  of 
his  entire  pacquet.  Not  satisfied  with  the  articles 
pertaining  to  commerce,  and  a  general  survey  of  the 
affairs  of  the  world,  he  has  acquired  a  sort  of  morbid 
taste  for  the  endless  miscellany  that  makes  up  an 
ordinary  journal,  even  down  to  the  "  Police  Reports," 
the  broken  arms,  the  collisions  of  omnibuses,  the  "  ac 
cidents"  in  distant  cities,  the  state  of  the  "  weather" 
on  the  other  side  of  the  globe,  and,  when  these  items 
are  exhausted,  the  "Lost  and  Found"  and  other 
weighty  matters  in  the  advertising  columns.  Now,  I 
will  not  retract  the  sentiment,  that  "  knowledge  of 
every  kind  may  be  useful,"  but,  really,  one  cannot 
see  this  process  going  on,  day  by  day,  with  thousands 


WHERE   THE   LOST   TIME   GOES.  301 

of  merchants,  without  having  two  reflections  forced 
upon  his  mind.  The  first  is,  that  these  gentlemen 
are  under  a  strange  delusion  when  they  imagine  that 
they  have  "no  time  for  reading."  And  the  other  is, 
that  newspapers  are  great  moths.  One  of  the  familiar 
headings  they  present  to  city  readers,  is,  "Beware 
of  Thieves  !"  What  is  this  but  the  cry  of  the  pilferer 
who  runs  away  from  the  scene  of  his  depredations, 
shouting,  "  Stop  thief!"  Certainly,  if  a  man  makes 
inquisition  for  his  lost  time,  he  will  be  very  apt  to 
find  that  his  favourite  newspapers  have  robbed  him 
of  a  good  share  of  it.  They  are  the  culprits :  and 
it  is  only  half  their  criminality,  that  they  have  stolen 
his  time.  They  have  broken  up  his  early  habits  of 
reading,  perverted  his  taste,  impaired  his  mental  dis 
cipline,  and  indisposed  him  to  all  vigorous  thought 
and  patient  research.  He  can  scarcely  summon  en 
ergy  enough  to  sit  down  to  one  of  the  Quarterly  Re 
views,  or  to  listen  while  his  son  or  daughter  reads  to 
the  family  circle  from  any  standard  History  or  Biog 
raphy.  His  literature  and  his  resolution  have  disap 
peared  like  Pharaoh's  fat  kine,  and  there  is  nothing 
but  the  newspaper  to  show  for  them  ! 

Thus  much  for  the  supposed  "want  of  time,"  which 
reconciles  so  many  merchants  and  clerks  to  the  neg 
lect  of  all  instructive  literature.     The  common  effect, 
as  just  intimated,  is,  to  generate  a  distaste  for  solid 
26 


302          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

reading.  It  becomes  a  formidable  thing  to  grapple 
with  a  book :  to  overcome  the  vis  inertias  which  op 
presses  the  mind  on  the  very  suggestion  of  such  a 
task.  If  the  habit  has  been  matured  by  time,  it  may 
be  invincible.  No  one  expects  to  see  the  merchant 
betaking  himself  to  Bacon  and  Milton  and  Irving  and 
Prescott,  who  has  had  the  ominous  interdict  inscribed 
over  the  gates  of  his  mind  for  forty  years,  "No  ad 
mittance,  except  on  business."*  Authors  (in  print, 
at  least)  are  proverbially  benevolent  and  courteous. 
You  may  have  hundreds  of  them  together  in  your 
house  without  being  disturbed  by  them.  They  neither 
quarrel  with  each  other,  nor  break  the  peace  of  the 
family.  They  are  tolerant  of  dust  and  neglect  and 
all  kinds  of  harsh  treatment.  They  stay  where  they 
are  put,  and  never  come  except  when  they  are  called. 
The  only  case  in  which  they  show  any  spirit,  is  the 
one  just  hinted  at,  where  an  individual  undertakes  to 
dally  with  them  who  has  passed  by  them  every  day 
for  a  score  or  two  of  years,  without  deigning  to  speak 
to  them.  This  they  do  resent.  And  the  offender  is 
apt  to  find  them  so  punctilious  about  a  reconciliation, 
that  after  a  few  advances  he  gives  it  up  in  despair. 
But  this  is  an  extreme  case.  A  simple  indifference 
to  books,  may  usually  be  conquered,  if  you  but  will 

*  See  the  Hon.  George  S.  Hillard's  admirable  Address  be 
fore  the  Boston  Mercantile  Library  Association,  1850. 


HINTS   ON  READING.  303 

to  do  it.  For  example  (I  quote  from  Sydney  Smith), 
"  sound  travels  so  many  feet  in  a  second.  Nothing 
more  probable:  but  you  do  not  care  how  light  and 
sound  travel.  Very  likely ;  but  make  yourself  care ; 
get  up,  shake  yourself  well,  pretend  to  care,  make 
believe  to  care,  and  very  soon  you  will  care,  and  care 
so  much,  that  you  will  sit  for  hours  thinking  about 
light  and  sound,  and  be  extremely  angry  with  any 
one  who  interrupts  you  in  your  pursuits,  and  tolerate 
no  other  conversation  but  about  light  and  sound,  and 
catch  yourself  plaguing  every  body  to  death  who  ap 
proaches  you,  with  the  discussion  of  these  subjects.  I 
am  sure  that  a  man  ought  to  read  as  he  would  grasp 
a  nettle  :  —  do  it  lightly,  and  you  get  molested ;  grasp 
it  with  all  your  strength,  and  you  feel  none  of  its 
asperities.  There  is  nothing  so  horrible  as  languid 
study ;  when  you  sit  looking  at  the  clock,  wishing  the 
time  was  over,  or  that  somebody  would  call  on  you 
and  put  you  out  of  your  misery.  The  only  way  to 
read  with  any  efficacy,  is  to  read  so  heartily  that 
dinner-time  [or  bed-time]  comes  two  hours  before  you 
expect  it."  And  many  a  young  man,  at  first  very 
shy  of  books,  has  learned  the  art  of  reading  in  this 
way  so  well,  that  he  now  counts  the  hours  of  business 
which  keep  him  from  his  favourite  nook  at  the  Mer 
cantile  Library  or  from  the  few  chosen  authors  that 
grace  the  shelves  in  his  chamber. 


304          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

Others  might  rouse  themselves  to  a  similar  course, 
but  they  "know  not  how  or  what  to  read."  The 
very  magnitude  of  the  public  libraries  to  which  they 
have  access,  bewilders  them.  "  What  can  they  do  in 
such  a  wilderness  of  books  ?  With  what  subjects  shall 
they  begin  ?  Which  are  the  best  authors  ?  What  is 
the  most  profitable  method  of  reading?"  Questions 
like  these  crowd  upon  them,  and  extinguish  the  half- 
formed  purpose  to  set  about  the  culture  of  their  minds 
and  aspire  to  something  more  worthy  of  their  rational 
nature  than  the  character  of  mere  money-makers. 
The  difficulty  is  real,  but  it  is  not  serious.  The  topics 
to  which  it  points,  it  is  not  my  province  to  discuss ; 
but  I  may  say,  in  a  single  sentence,  that  satisfactory 
information  on  these  topics,  is  within  the  reach  of 
every  person  who  desires  it.  There  are  gentlemen 
connected  with  these  libraries,  and  others  in  your  own 
profession,  who  would  cheerfully  aid  you  in  arranging 
a  course  of  reading.  Or  better  still,  perhaps,  there 
are  books  on  this  very  subject,  containing  ample  in 
formation  respecting  every  department  of  letters,  and 
designed  to  meet  in  a  judicious  and  competent  man 
ner,  the  very  wants  which  have  been  described.*  No 

*  See,  especially,  "  A  Course  of  English  Reading,  adapted 
to  every  taste  and  capacity,  with  Anecdotes  of  Men  of  Genius. 
By  the  Rev.  James  Pycroft,  B.  A.,  Trinity  College,  Oxford." 
(A.  Hart,  Philad.)  A  most  instructive  and  entertaining  book. 


A   SHIELD   AGAINST   TEMPTATION.  305 

young  man,  with  such  helps  at  hand,  need  be  at  a 
loss  what  to  read,  nor  how  to  read  to  good  purpose. 

The  importance  of  this  habit  in  a  simply  profes 
sional  view,  and  as  going  to  counteract  the  influence 
of  a  too  exclusive  devotion  to  merchandize,  has  already 
been  adverted  to.  It  is  no  less  useful  to  young  men 
in  our  cities,  as  a  shield  against  temptation.  "  The 
ruin  of  most  men,"  says  Mr.  Hillard,  "dates  from 
some  vacant  hour.  Occupation  is  the  armour  of  the 
soul,  and  the  train  of  Idleness  is  borne  up  by  all  the 
vices.  I  remember  a  satirical  poem,  in  which  the 
Devil  is  represented  as  fishing  for  men,  and  adapting 
his  baits  to  the  taste  and  temperament  of  his  prey ; 
but  the  idler,  he  said,  pleased  him  most,  because  he 
bit  the  naked  hook.  To  a  young  man  away  from 
home,  friendless  and  forlorn  in  a  great  city,  the  hours 
of  peril  are  those  between  sunset  and  bed-time,  for 
the  moon  and  stars  see  more  of  evil  in  a  single  hour 
than  the  sun  in  his  whole  day's  circuit.  The  poet's 
visions  of  evening  are  all  compact  of  tender  and 
soothing  images.  It  brings  the  wanderer  to  his 
home,  the  child  to  his  mother's  arms,  the  ox  to  his 
stall,  and  the  weary  labourer  to  his  rest.  But  to  the 
gentle-hearted  youth  who  is  thrown  upon  the  rocks 
of  a  pitiless  city,  and  stands  '  homeless  amid  a  thou 
sand  homes,'  the  approach  of  evening  brings  with  it 
an  aching  sense  of  loneliness  and  desolation,  which 
26* 


306          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

comes  down  upon  the  spirit  like  darkness  upon  the 
earth.  In  this  mood,  his  best  impulses  become  a 
snare  to  him,  and  he  is  led  astray  because  he  is  social, 
affectionate,  sympathetic,  and  warm-hearted.  If  there 
be  a  young  man  thus  circumstanced  within  the  sound 
of  my  voice,  let  me  say  to  him  that  books  are  the 
friends  of  the  friendless,  and  that  a  Library  is  the 
home  of  the  homeless.  A  taste  for  reading  will  always 
carry  you  into  the  best  possible  company,  and  enable 
you  to  converse  with  men  who  will  instruct  you  by 
their  wisdom  and  charm  you  by  their  wit,  who  will 
soothe  you  when  fretted,  refresh  you  when  weary, 
counsel  you  when  perplexed,  and  sympathize  with 
you  at  all  times.  Evil  spirits,  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
were  driven  away  by  '  bell,  book,  and  candle' ;  —  you 
w^ant  but  two  of  these,  the  book  and  the  candle." 

It  is  another  consideration  of  great  moment,  that 
merchants,  in  this  country,  are  often  called  to  high 
public  stations.  They  may  be  found  among  our  Legis 
lators.  They  have  graced  the  Cabinet,  and  repre 
sented  us  at  European  Courts.  A  profession  thus 
identified  with  our  national  affairs,  should  be  no  less 
distinguished  for  its  general  intelligence  than  its  in 
tegrity  and  enterprise. 

The  importance  of  literary  culture  as  a  prepara 
tion  for  retiring  from  business,  has  been  adverted  to 
on  former  occasions,  and  the  length  of  this  Lecture 


THE   BOOK    OF   BOOKS.  307 

forbids  mo  to  enlarge  upon  it  here.  But  the  argu 
ment  may  be  seen  in  its  best  form,  if  those  who  are 
curious  on  the  subject,  will  take  the  trouble  to  esti 
mate  for  themselves,  the  intellectual  and  moral  re 
sources,  and  the  honour  and  comfort,  of  a  merchant 
who  carries  into  his  retirement  a  well-disciplined 
mind  and  established  habits  of  reading,  as  compared 
with  the  closing  years  of  another  who,  on  bidding 
adieu  to  his  Counting-House,  is  ready  to  say,  with 
Micah,  "  Ye  have  taken  away  my  gods  which  I  made, 
and  what  have  I  more  ?" 

The  paramount  reason,  however,  why  mercantile 
men  should  bestow  this  care  upon  mental  culture, 
grows  out  of  its  connexion  with  their  spiritual  inte 
rests  ;  —  and  that,  not  simply  in  those  indirect 
methods  which  have  already  been  mentioned.  The 
argument  drawn  from  the  conservative  and  elevating 
influence  of  literary  occupation  generally,  is  sound 
and  forcible.  But  the  higher  bearings  of  this  habit 
will  be  understood  at  once,  when  I  mention  the  BIBLE 
as  the  book  which  must  of  right  claim  a  precedence 
in  every  scheme  of  reading.  Regarded  simply  as  a 
means  of  intellectual  discipline,  no  other  work  can 
be  studied  to  equal  advantage.  Its  themes  are 
the  sublimest  and  the  most  ennobling  which  can  be 
contemplated ;  and  the  mind  which  is  brought  into 
reverential  and  habitual  contact  with  them,  will  grow 


308         THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

rapidly  in  strength  and  comprehension.  But  not 
only  does  the  Bible  speak  to  us  of  God :  it  is  God 
who  speaks  to  us  in  its  sacred  pages.  And,  there 
fore,  while  other  books  may  be  read,  this  book  must 
be  read.  Not  to  read  it,  is  to  contemn  its  Author. 
Not  to  read  it,  is  to  miss  the  manifold  blessings,  and 
to  incur  the  fearful  retributions,  it  reveals.  There 
alone  is  the  WAY  OF  SALVATION  laid  open,  and  that 
question,  the  most  momentous  which  can  engage  the 
attention  of  a  rational  being,  authoritatively  answer 
ed,  "  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?"  Whatever  may 
be  neglected  then,  neglect  not  the  faithful,  systematic, 
devout  study  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  Ignorance 
of  the  Bible  were  not  merely  disreputable  to  you  as 
men  of  intelligence  :  it  wrould  jeopard,  and  might  de 
stroy,  your  souls.  And  "  what  shall  it  profit  a  man 
if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  his  own 
soul !" 


TESTIMONY   OF   A   CLERK.  309 


Mintlj. 


THE   CLAIMS    OF   THE   SABBATH   UPON   MERCHANTS. 

A  FEW  days  since,  stepping  into  one  of  our  great 
commercial  houses,  the  floor  of  which  was  covered 
with  boxes  of  merchandize  awaiting  transportation,  I 
said  to  one  of  the  clerks,  calling  him  by  name,  "  What 
would  you  young  men  do  without  a  Sunday  ?"  "  What 
would  we  do?"  he  replied,  "we  could  not  do  at  all. 
It  would  be  impossible  for  us  to  get  on  without  Sun 
day  in  the  other  portions  of  the  year;  and  not  to 
have  it  at  this  season,  would  break  us  right  up  at 
once.  It  is  indispensable  to  us,"  he  added,  "for 
physical  rest,  and  a  great  deal  more  so  that  our 
minds  may  get  repose  from  this  care  and  anxiety 
which  are  so  crushing  to  us."  His  appearance  gave 
emphasis  to  every  word  he  uttered.  I  had  seen  him 
at  the  commencement  of  "the  season,"  and  marked 
his  fine,  bright  countenance  and  his  elastic  step. 
Again,  in  the  interval  I  had  seen  him,  and  heard  him 
Bay,  on  a  Saturday  afternoon  —  "I  have  not  been  in 


310          THE   BIBLE    IX   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

my  bed  until  one  or  two  o'clock,  a  single  night  this, 
week."  And  now  his  cheek  was  blanched,  he  had 
become  very  thin,  and  his  whole  aspect  and  gait  were 
stamped  with  lassitude  and  exhaustion. — I  have  cited 
him  as  a  witness  on  this  subject,  because  while  he  is 
a  very  estimable  young  man  and  a  most  faithful  and 
efficient  clerk,  he  is  not,  I  believe,  a  professor  of  reli 
gion  :  and  with  a  certain  class  of  persons,  this  circum 
stance  may  impart  additional  weight  to  his  testimony. 
But  in  truth,  it  would  not  be  requisite  to  select  wit 
nesses  in  order  to  establish  the  necessity  of  a  weekly 
rest.  You  would  be  safe  in  going  at  random  into  any 
of  our  Counting-Houses,  or  in  polling  the  entire  mer 
cantile  community  on  this  question :  —  there  could  be 
but  one  response  to  the  question,  "  Is  Sunday  essen 
tial  to  the  proper  prosecution  of  commercial  business  ?" 
This,  however,  is  but  a  partial  statement  of  the  truth. 
The  Sabbath  is  not  essential  to  the  merchant  only,  but 
to  men  of  every  occupation,  and  of  all  climes  and 
kindreds.  This  is  the  teaching  alike  of  the  Bible,  of 
science,  and  of  experience. 

Our  Saviour  has  affirmed  it  in  that  much-perverted 
saying,  "  The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and  not 
man  for  the  Sabbath."  (Mark  2:  27.)  As  the  word 
Sabbath  means  a  rest,  this  language  implies  that  man 
requires  a  day  of  rest.  He  who  "  knew  what  was  in 
man,"  foresaw  that  he  would  need  a  weekly  respite 


DR.  FARRE.  311 

from  labour.  Had  he  been  differently  constituted,  or 
differently  situated,  this  might  possibly  have  been  dis 
pensed  with ;  or  instead  of  one-seventh,  some  other 
portion  of  his  time  might  have  been  demanded  for 
repose.  But  as  he  is,  he  must  have  a  " rest-day"; 
and  so  his  bountiful  Creator  has  given  him  one.  To 
quarrel  with  the  Sabbath,  therefore,  is  for  a  man  to 
quarrel  with  his  own  constitution.  And  the  people 
who  declaim  so  much  about  this  institution  as  an 
invention  of  "priestcraft,"  would  be  more  rationally 
employed  in  inquiring  how  and  why  they  came  to  be 
created  with  a  physical  and  moral  frame-work  which 
would  soon  shiver  to  pieces  without  a  Sabbath.  If 
"priestcraft"  has  invented  the  Sabbath,  it  deserves 
for  once  their  thanks  rather  than  their  maledictions. 
Let  us  hear  an  eminent  scientific  authority  on  the 
subject :  — 

"As  a  day  of  rest,"  says  Dr.  Farre,  in  his  testimony  before 
a  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  "  I  view  it  as  a  day 
of  compensation  for  the  inadequate  restorative  power  of  the 
body  under  continued  labour  and  excitement.  A  physician 
always  has  respect  to  the  preservation  of  the  restorative 
power,  because,  if  once  this  be  lost,  his  healing  office  is  at  an 
end.  If  I  show  you  from  the  physiological  view  of  the  question, 
that  there  are  provisions  in  the  laws  of  nature  which  corre 
spond  with  the  divine  commandment,  you  will  see  from  the 
analogy  that  '  the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man'  as  a  necessary 
appointment.  A  physician  is  anxious  to  preserve  the  balance 


312          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

of  circulation,  as  necessary  to  the  restorative  po\ver  of  the 
body.  The  ordinary  exertions  of  man  run  down  the  circula 
tion  every  day  of  his  life  ;  and  the  first  general  law  of  nature 
by  which  God  (who  is  not  only  the  giver,  but  also  the  pre 
server  and  sustainer,  of  life,)  prevents  man  from  destroying 
himself,  is  the  alternating  of  day  with  night,  that  repose  may 
succeed  action.  But  although  the  night  apparently  equalizes 
the  circulation  well,  yet  it  does  not  sufficiently  restore  its 
balance  for  the  attainment  of  a  long  life.  Hence  one  day  in 
seven,  by  the  bounty  of  Providence,  is  thrown  in  as  a  day  of 
compensation,  to  perfect  by  its  repose  the  animal  system. 
Take  that  fine  animal,  the  horse,  and  work  him  to  the  full 
extent  of  his  powers  every  day  in  the  week,  or  give  him  rest 
one  day  in  seven,  and  you  will  soon  perceive,  by  the  superior 
vigour  with  which  he  performs  his  functions  on  the  other  six 
days,  that  this  is  necessary  to  his  well-being.  Man,  possess 
ing  a  superior  nature,  is  borne  along  by  the  very  vigour  of 
his  mind,  so  that  the  injury  of  continued  diurnal  exertion  and 
excitement  on  his  animal  system,  is  not  so  immediately  ap 
parent  as  it  is  in  the  brute ;  but  in  the  long  run  he  breaks 
down  more  suddenly ;  it  abridges  the  length  of  his  life  and 
that  vigour  of  his  old  age  which  (as  to  mere  animal  power) 
ought  to  be  the  object  of  his  preservation.  I  consider,  there 
fore,  that  in  the  bountiful  provision  of  Providence  for  the 
preservation  of  human  life,  the  Sabbatical  appointment  is  not, 
as  it  has  been  sometimes  theologically  viewed,  simply  a  pre 
cept  partaking  of  the  nature  of  a  political  institution ;  but 
that  it  is  to  be  numbered  amongst  the  natural  duties,  if  the 
preservation  of  life  be  admitted  to  be  a  duty,  and  the  prema 
ture  destruction  of  it  a  suicidal  act.  This  is  said  simply  a3 
a  Physician,  and  without  reference  at  all  to  the  theological 
question :  but  if  you  consider  further  the  proper  effect  of 


THE  SABBATH  FOUNDED  IN  NATURE.    313 

real  Christianity  —  namely,  peace  of  mind,  confiding  trust 
in  God,  and  good-will  to  man — you  will  perceive  in  this 
source  of  renewed  vigour  to  the  mind,  and  through  the  mind 
to  the  body,  an  additional  spring  of  life  imparted  from  this 
higher  use  of  the  Sabbath  as  a  holy  rest." 

The  principle  elucidated  in  these  philosophical 
observations,  has  been  recognized  by  the  worst  ene 
mies  of  the  Sabbath.  So  thoroughly  satisfied  were 
the  French  Theophilanthropists,  of  the  necessity  of  a 
day  of  rest,  that  when  they  abolished  the  Sabbath 
they  replaced  it  with  a  decade,  making  every  tenth 
day  a  holiday. 

It  follows  from  the  argument  just  presented,  that 
the  Sabbath  could  have  been  no  mere  local  or  tran 
sitory  enactment.  The  nature  of  man  remaining 
unchanged,  a  restorative  "rest-day"  would  be  equally 
essential  under  all  dispensations  and  among  all 
nations.  Accordingly,  there  are  distinct  traces  of 
such  an  institute  from  the  creation  to  the  exodus : 
under  the  theocracy  it  was  formally  incorporated  in 
the  decalogue :  the  Saviour  confirmed  its  authority : 
and  from  his  ascension  until  now,  Christendom  has 
recognized  it  as  an  ordinance  of  God.  The  change 
from  the  seventh  to  the  first  day  of  the  week  (a  point 
which  the  limits  of  this  service  forbid  my  entering 
into  here),  does  not  affect  the  essence  of  the  institu 
tion.  The  vital  thing  —  that  which  was  originally 
27 


314          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

appointed  —  that  which  was  republished  with  fresh 
sanctions  at  Sinai  —  is,  the  "Sabbath,"  the  "rest- 
day"  That  which  the  human  constitution  demands, 
and  has  always  demanded,  is,  a  weekly  rest  extending, 
in  the  aggregate,  over  one-seventh  part  of  man's 
allotted  period  upon  earth.  To  use  a  familiar  illus 
tration,  we  might  suppose  a  company  of  Christian 
tourists  to  start  from  Pittsburg  and  travel  westward, 
until  they  had  compassed  the  globe  and  returned  to 
some  isolated  spot  on  the  mountains  within  a  few 
miles  of  their  former  home.  If  they  had  kept  each 
Sabbath  as  it  came,  avoiding  all  intercourse  with 
other  Christians,  and  should  now  settle  in  their  new 
abode  without  communicating  at  all  with  their  neigh 
bours,  they  would  have  lost  a  day  by  their  journey, 
and  we  should  have  the  anomaly  of  two  adjacent 
communities,  of  the  same  faith,  keeping  the  Christian 
Sabbath  on  different  days.  Can  any  one  deny  that 
the  observance  of  these  travellers  would  be  a  substan 
tial  accordance  with  the  Sabbath-law,  or  doubt  that 
it  would  be  acceptable  to  God?  It  is  not,  then, 
incompatible  with  the  original  enactment,  that  the 
day  should  be  changed  —  especially  by  the  Lord  of 
the  Sabbath  himself. 

All  this  may  be  conceded  by  individuals  who  will, 
nevertheless,  argue,  that  "  as  the  Sabbath  i  was  made 
for  man,'  man  must  have  a  right  to  do  what  he 


DESIGN   OF   THE   LAW.  315 

chooses  with  it.  If  he  sees  fit  to  open  his  store  and 
sell  goods  on  that  day,  to  send  his  mowers  into  the 
field  with  their  scythes,  to  run  his  stages,  to  keep  his 
journeymen  at  tanning,  marble  -  dressing,  building, 
weaving,  or  whatever  his  trade  may  be,  no  one  may 
resist  it  as  an  infraction  of  the  Sabbath.  And  if 
governments  and  corporations  choose  to  keep  canals 
and  railways  in  operation,  as  well  on  the  first  day  of 
the  week  as  on  the  other  six,  they  are  not  contra 
vening  the  Sabbath-law." 

This,  however,  will  depend  on  the  design  of  the 
law.  No  sweeping  conclusions  like  these  can  be 
deduced  from  the  proposition  that  "  the  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man."  You  may  say  to  your  son  :  "  Here 
is  a  watch  which  I  have  had  made  for  you."  Would 
that  authorize  him  to  throw  the  watch  into  the  sea, 
or  to  take  it  to  pieces  and  use  the  machinery  in 
patching  together  his  broken  toys  ?  You  may  erect 
a  costly  mansion,  and  say  to  your  bridal  daughter : 
"  I  have  built  and  furnished  this  house  for  you,  as  a 
wedding-present."  Would  this  justify  her  in  setting 
fire  to  it,  or  in  renting  it  for  a  grocery-store  ?  You 
may  say  to  one  of  your  clerks :  "I  have  had  this 
additional  ware-room  constructed  expressly  for  you, 
and  I  wish  you  to  take  charge  of  it."  Would  this 
warrant  him  in  storing  other  people's  goods  there,  or 
in  trafficking  in  articles  which  you  disapproved  of 


316          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

and  which  might  damage  you  in  business  and  reputa 
tion  ?  —  Neither  does  it  follow,  because  God  has  made 
the  Sabbath  for  you,  that  you  may  do  what  you 
please  with  it ;  —  especially  as  he  has  in  fact  made  it 
over  to  you  in  trust  only,  and  without  divesting  him 
self  of  his  own  right  in  it.  In  the  deed  by  which  He 
has  conveyed  it  to  you,  the  general  uses  to  which  it 
is  to  be  applied,  are  carefully  specified.  It  is  to  be 
a  holy  rest  —  a  day  of  religious  worship  —  a  day 
specifically  dedicated  to  God  and  the  soul.  Yet  not 
so  rigidly  spiritual  as  to  preclude  any  and  all  non- 
spiritual  offices  in  all  conceivable  circumstances.  There 
are  secular  matters  which  may  be  attended  to  on  the 
Sabbath.  But  what  they  are,  it  is  His  prerogative, 
not  ours,  to  decide.  And  He  has  decided.  He  has 
settled  the  principle,  by  his  teaching  and  his  example, 
that  works  of  necessity  and  mercy  are  not  in  deroga 
tion  of  the  sacredness  of  the  day.  Beyond  this,  no 
man  can  go  without  usurping  a  control  over  the  whole 
institution,  and  impugning  the  right  of  the  "  Lord  of 
the  Sabbath,"  to  say  how  it  shall  be  kept.  There  is 
no  intermediate  ground.  If  the  Bible  is  not  to  be 
recognized  as  the  paramount  authority,  as  well  in 
respect  to  the  exceptions  as  to  the  rule  itself,  then 
the  rule  is  a  nullity  and  the  Sabbath  a  figment.  For 
what  does  the  command,  "  Remember  the  Sabbath- 
day,  to  keep  it  holy,"  amount  to,  if  each  man  may 


ALLOWED   SECULARITIES.  317 

bend  the  day  to  his  own  caprices?  The  principle 
which  would  sanction  your  trafficking  on  that  day, 
would  no  less  legitimate  the  military  reviews  and 
public  amusements  to  which  Sunday  is  appropriated 
in  most  of  the  European  capitals.  Any  one  who  has 
spent  a  week  in  Paris,  must  know  what  we  might 
expect  if  this  mode  of  interpreting  the  declaration, 
"the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,"  should  become 
prevalent  in  this  country.  But  the  Bible  has  not 
thus  stultified  itself  by  ordaining  a  law,  and  then 
allowing  every  individual  to  put  what  construction 
upon  it  he  chooses.  The  Lawgiver  has  expounded 
his  own  statute.  And  under  this  authority,  our  secu- 
larities  on  that  day  are  restricted  to  the  two  classes 
of  offices  just  specified.  Whether  any  proposed  ser 
vice  be  a  work  of  "necessity"  or  of  "mercy,"  we 
must  decide  for  ourselves,  under  our  responsibility  to 
God.  To  abuse  this  liberty  by  turning  the  Sabbath 
into  a  day  of  pastime  or  of  needless  toil,  is  to  practise 
a  paltry  deception  upon  our  own  consciences,  and  to 
insult  the  Deity.  The  spirit  of  the  divine  legislation 
on  this  subject,  any  candid  inquirer  will  readily  com 
prehend  ;  and  the  more  such  an  one  investigates  it, 
the  clearer  will  become  his  conviction  of  the  unbounded 
wisdom  and  goodness  involved  in  this  whole  economy 
of  a  perpetual  weekly  Sabbath. 

There  is  another  serious  error  in  the  reasoning  of 
27* 


318          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

the  plea  I  have  quoted.  Because  "the  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man,"  if  your  interest  as  individuals  or  as 
corporators  in  a  joint-stock  company  appears  to  re 
quire  it,  you  may  exact  of  your  clerks  and  journey 
men,  your  steamboat  crews  and  railroad  servitors, 
any  amount  of  Sabbath  labour  which  you  see  fit.  So 
you  argue :  but  with  bad  logic  and  worse  humanity. 
If  "the  Sabbath  (the  rest-day)  was  made  for  man" 
who  gave  you  the  right  to  monopolize  it?  These 
book-keepers  and  salesmen  and  packers  and  porters 
—  are  they  not  men  f  These  engineers  and  con 
ductors  and  stokers  and  switch-tenders  and  baggage- 
masters  and  machinists  and  depot-keepers  —  are  they 
not  men  ?  And  if  they  are,  was  not  the  day  of  rest 
made  for  them  as  well  as  for  you  ?  It  is  nothing  to 
the  purpose  that  you  are  rich  and  they  are  poor ;  or 
that  you  are  principals  and  they  subordinates.  With 
God,  there  is  no  respect  of  persons.  And  if  He  made 
the  Sabbath  for  uman"  —  for  every  man,  and  for 
one  man  as  much  as  for  another  —  it  is  to  be  pre 
sumed  He  will  not  regard  with  indifference  any 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  opulent  or  the  powerful 
to  intercept  from  the  poor,  the  boon  He  has  intended 
for  them.  Their  right  to  it  is  as  indisputable  as  your 
own.  They  do  not  receive  it  from  you.  It  is  not 
yours  to  give ;  and  if  you  cannot  confer  it,  you  can 
not  take  it  away.  God  has  bestowed  it  upon  them 


EVERY   MAIN'S   RIGHT   TO   A   SABBATH.          319 

and  upon  you  alike,  as  he  has  the  atmosphere  and 
the  light ;  and  it  is  an  invasion  of  His  prerogative, 
to  deprive  them  of  their  chartered  rest.  The  title 
under  which  they  hold  it,  is  paramount  to  all  human 
compacts  :  older  than  any  patent  of  nobility,  above 
all  crowns  and  constitutions.  The  image  and  super 
scription  upon  it,  are  those  of  the  KING  OF  KINGS 
AND  LORD  OF  LORDS  ;  and,  as  if  to  impress  upon  it 
a  sacredness  still  more  awful,  it  is  sealed  with  "BLOOD 
DIVINE."  By  such  an  instrument  is  a  weekly  rest 
guaranteed  to  all  your  helpers  and  subordinates,  from 
your  confidential  cashier  down  to  your  errand-boy. 
By  such  an  instrument  is  it  secured  to  all  the  tribes 
of  labour  —  to  the  men  who  wheel  upon  the  wharves, 
to  the  operatives  in  every  mill,  the  mechanics  and 
apprentices  in  every  shop,  the  clerks  in  every  Post- 
office,  the  working  staff  of  every  canal  and  railroad. 
The  Sabbath  is  no  gratuity  bestowed  upon  them  by 
their  employers.  Their  employers  have  it  for  them 
selves  by  virtue  of  their  being  men,  but  it  is  not 
theirs  to  give  away.  GOD  has  given  it  to  every 
man ;  and  they  would  do  well  not  to  interfere  with 
His  gift. 

The  pretension  against  which  I  am  arguing,  is, 
indeed,  monstrous.  It  is  the  deliberate  assumption  of 
a  right  to  invalidate  a  Divine  grant !  to  wrest  from 
a  large  portion  of  the  human  race,  a  priceless  posses- 


320          THE   BIBLE   IX   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

sion  which,  they  hold  directly  from  God  himself!  I 
say,  "from  a  large  portion  of  the  race,"  and  it  is 
even  so.  For  if  the  principle  contended  for  he  ad- 
iaitted,  that  the  affluent  and  the  great  may  constrain 
(and  moral  means  may  be  so  used  as  to  amount  to 
coercion)  the  dependent  classes  to  work  for  them  on 
the  Sabbath,  where  no  office  of  "necessity  or  mercy" 
is  involved,  then  the  weekly  rest  which  was  "  made 
for  man,"  may  come  to  be  the  exclusive  appendage 
of  those  who  are  blessed  with  wealth  or  station ;  and 
these  are  a  mere  fraction  of  any  community.  Nor  is 
this  all.  The  motive  which  prompts  to  this  oppres 
sion  of  the  poor  —  the  entire  basis  upon  which  this 
usurpation  of  the  Divine  prerogative  rests  —  is,  a 
sordid  self-interest.  It  is  to  inflame  still  more  the 
feverish  excitement  of  commerce  and  increase  its 
gains,  to  make  the  rich  richer  and  the  poor  poorer, 
that  large  bodies  of  deserving  men  are  to  be  robbed 
of  the  rest-day  which  God  made  for  them.  Avarice 
is  never  satisfied.  It  might  have  been  supposed,  that 
when  science  and  art  had  brought  the  remote  portions 
of  a  country  like  this  into  juxta-position,  and,  in  the 
matter  of  travelling  and  transportation,  well-nigh 
condensed  days  into  hours,  the  trade-spirit  would  be 
content  to  pause  for  one  day  out  of  seven,  and  let  all 
its  servants  enjoy  the  repose  the  Creator  had  pro 
vided  for  them.  But  so  far  from  this,  the  disposition 


TYRANNY   OF   AVARICE.  321 

is  to  make  every  new  railroad  a  fresh  instrument  of 
Sabbath  -  desecration.  The  faster  goods  travel,  the 
faster  they  must  travel.  The  traffickers  from  the 
country,  who  would  certainly  reach  the  city  or  their 
homes  on  Monday,  are  not  satisfied  with  this :  they 
must  "  save  a  day"  by  travelling  on  Sunday.  With 
a  similar  economy  of  time,  the  metropolitan  merchant 
takes  Sunday  for  his  transit  to  or  from  a  contiguous 
city.  "  Business  requires  it."  Excuse  me  for  telling 
you,  that  you  are  mistaken.  As  a  general  rule,  busi 
ness  does  not  require  it.  Legitimate  business  never 
can  require  that  you  should  habitually  desecrate  the 
Sabbath,  and  deprive  some  scores  or  hundreds  of 
your  fellow-men  of  their  chartered  rest.  It  is  cupidity 
that  requires  it.  It  would  make  more  money,  or  make 
it  faster :  and  in  this  greediness  after  gain,  it  does  not 
scruple  to  tyrannise  over  those  whose  circumstances 
place  them  at  its  mercy,  and  to  wrest  from  them  the 
only  day  of  the  seven  which  they  can  call  their  own. 
I  would  press  home  upon  you,  your  own  favourite 
text,  "the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man."  It  was 
made  for  man ;  and  if  you  consider  how  invaluable  it 
is  to  those  who  are  consigned  to  a  life  of  toil,  you 
will  feel  that  it  must  be  a  flagrant  wTrong  to  despoil 
them  of  it.  The  human  constitution,  as  has  been 
shown,  demands  this  periodic  rest.  Men  who  have 
to  labour  without  it,  are  sure  to  break  down  and  die. 


322          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

I  do  not  ask,  will  Christian  principle,  but,  will  com 
mon  humanity,  justify  us  in  prosecuting  business  on 
any  plan  which  must  be  fatal  to  the  health  and  the 
lives  of  our  fellow-creatures  ?  And  if  you  take  away 
the  Sabbath,  what  time  has  the  labourer  for  his  family  ? 
It  may  be  a  light  thing  for  you  to  go  off  on  a  Sunday 
from  your  homes.  But  look  out  of  your  window  of 
a  morning,  and  see  these  men,  after  a  hurried  break 
fast,  before  their  children  are  up,  hastening  to  their 
work,  each  one  carrying  a  basket  or  kettle  with  his 
noon-day  lunch ;  and  see  them  again  returning,  after 
sun-down,  fagged  and  weary,  and  much  fitter  for  bed 
than  for  the  companionship  of  their  families  :  —  and 
say,  whether  such  men  ought  to  be  denied  the  only 
day  they  can  devote  to  domestic  aifection  and  house 
hold  joys.  The  Sabbath  is,  under  God,  one  of  the  main 
ramparts  which  guard  the  poor-man's  habitation  from 
the  exactions  of  power  and  the  rapacity  of  avarice. 
And  to  subvert  this,  is  to  rob  him  of  his  HOME. 

"  Hail,  Sabbath !  thee  I  hail,  the  poor  man's  day. 
On  other  days  the  man  of  toil  is  doom'd 
To  eat  his  joyless  bread,  lonely,  the  ground 
Both  seat  and  board,  screen'd  from  the  winter's  cold 
And  summer's  heat  by  neighbouring  hedge  or  tree ; 
But  on  this  day,  embosomed  in  his  home, 
He  shares  the  frugal  meal  with  those  he  loves ; 
With  those  ho  loves  he  shares  the  heartfelt  joy 
Of  giving  thanks  to  God." 


THE  LABOURER'S  COTTAGE.  323 

This  scene  has  been  described  by  a  "  Labourer's 
Daughter"  as  no  one  could  depict  it  except  from 
experience.  I  will  quote  from  her  sketch  but  a  single 
paragraph,  as  the  volume  is  within  the  reach  of  all, 
and  eminently  worthy  to  be  read  of  all.* 

"  What  a  delightful  scene  of  tranquil  enjoyment  is  to  be 
met  with  in  the  family  of  the  labourer  where  the  Sabbath  is 
properly  appreciated  and  actively  improved  !  Has  the  reader 
ever  spent  a  Lord's  day  in  such  a  family  ?  Has  he  seen  the 
children,  awaking  from  the  light  slumbers  of  the  morning, 
glance  round  on  the  more  than  usual  order,  cleanliness,  and 
quiet  of  the  humble  apartment,  and  then  ask,  '  Mother,  what 
day  is  this?'  and  heard  the  reply,  'This  is  the  Sabbath,  the 
best  of  all  days,  the  day  which  God  has  blessed ! '  Has  he 
seen  their  father  dandling  the  baby,  till  their  mother  should 
finish  dressing  the  elder  children,  and  then,  when  all  were 
ready,  heard  the  little  circle  join  in  the  sweet  morning  hymn, 
and  seen  them  kneel  together,  while  their  father  offered  up  a 
simple  but  heartfelt  thanksgiving  for  life,  health,  and  reason 
preserved,  through  the  toils  of  another  week;  and  for  the 
privilege  of  being  again  all  permitted  to  enjoy,  in  each  other's 
society,  the  blessed  light  of  the  first  day  of  the  week ;  that 
morning  light  which  brings  to  mind  an  empty  grave  and  a 
risen  Saviour;  those  peaceful  hours,  which,  undisturbed  by 
the  labour,  hurry,  and  anxieties  of  the  week,  they  can  devote 
to  the  advancement  of  that  spiritual  life  in  their  souls,  which 

*  See  "Prize-Essays  on  the  Temporal  Advantages  of  the 
Sabbath"  by  Working  Men:  which  also  includes  the  "  Pearl 
of  Days,  by  a  Labourer's  Daughter:'  Presb.  Board  of  Pub 
lication. 


324          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

shall  outlive  the  destruction  of  death  itself?  Has  he  heard 
the  words  of  prayer,  the  questions  of  the  father,  and  the 
replies  of  the  children  ;  and  has  he  not  felt  assured  that  the 
mind-awakening  influences  of  such  subjects  of  thought,  and 
such  exercises,  would  be  seen  in  the  after-years  of  these 
children?" 

This  last  thought  would  bear  to  be  expanded  — 
"the  mind-awakening  influences"  of  the  Sabbath, 
not  only  in  its  domestic,  but  in  its  public,  religious 
services.  For  it  is  no  less  the  chief  means  of  mental 
improvement  to  the  labourer,  than  his  indispensable 
season  of  physical  repose.  But  above  all  these,  it 
supplies  him  with  his  only  adequate  opportunities  for 
spiritual  culture  and  preparation  for  eternity.  This 
is  so  apparent,  that  it  would  be  a  wraste  of  words  to 
prove,  that  to  subject  the  labouring  classes,  or  any 
class,  to  habitual  toil  on  the  Lord's  day,  is,  to  cut 
them  off  from  the  sanctuary,  to  deprive  them  of  the 
requisite  leisure  for  the  study  of  the  Bible,  to  subvert 
their  religious  principles,  and,  under  ordinary  circum 
stances,  to  corrupt  their  morals  and  destroy  their 
souls. 

But  some  one  may  be  ready  to  exclaim  —  "  What 
is  all  this  to  us  ?  Why  address  Merchants  on  the 
importance  of  the  Sabbath  to  the  poor  ?  "  I  answer, 
because  most  of  the  usages  which  go  to  deprive  the 
poor  of  their  Sabbath,  have  the  sanction  of  the  com 
mercial  body.  To  advert  to  a  topic  repeatedly  men- 


RAILWAY-TRAFFIC.  325 

tioned  —  the  railroads  of  the  United  States  are,  for 
the  most  part,  controlled  by  its  merchants.  It  is  at 
your  bidding  that  the  Post-office  is  made  an  exception 
to  the  rule  which  regulates  every  other  department 
of  the  government,  and  its  incumbents  deprived  of 
the  rest  enjoyed  by  all  other  public  servants.  It  is 
your  merchandize  (I  address  the  profession  as  a  whole) 
which  sends  these  long  trains  of  freight-cars  along 
the  rails  on  the  Sabbath.  It  is  your  patronage, 
beyond  that  of  any  other  class  of  citizens,  that  sus 
tains  the  "  passenger- trains"  on  Sundays.  Whenever 
an  effort  is  made  to  suspend  the  Sunday-traffic  on 
any  particular  road,  it  is  commerce  that  remonstrates 
against  it.  It  has  even  claimed  in  some  instances, 
that  a  road  should  be  kept  in  operation  on  that  day, 
although,  on  its  own  concession,  the  passenger-trains 
would  have  to  be  run  at  a  positive  pecuniary  loss  — 
the  pretext  being,  that  the  suspension  of  the  trains 
might  divert  travel  to  other  lines.  The  only  medium 
through  which  this  great  moral  question  is  contem 
plated,  is  that  of  business  and  profits.  The  improve 
ment  and  comfort  of  the  working  people  and  their 
families,  go  for  nothing.  The  authority  of  GOD 
goes  for  nothing.  Commerce,  uninstructed  by  reli 
gion,  has  but  one  standard  of  value,  and  casts  all 
commodities,  from  iron  and  cotton  up  to  ethics  and 
devotion,  into  the  same  scales,  — 
28 


326          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

"  Nor  is  it  well,  nor  can  it  come  to  good, 
That  through  profane  and  infidel  contempt 
Of  Holy  Writ,  she  has  presumed  t'  annul 
And  abrogate,  as  roundly  as  she  may, 
The  total  ordinance  and  will  of  God," 

and  to  degrade  the  Sabbath,  in  so  far  as  "  business" 
may  seem  to  demand  it,  to  a  mere  secular  day.  This 
"cannot  come  to  good"  even  as  regards  her  own 
affairs.  It  is  demonstrable  that  the  general  and 
permanent  prosperity  of  any  country,  in  a  simply 
commercial  view,  will  be  promoted  by  a  due  obser 
vance  of  the  Sabbath.  This  is  implied  in  the  argu 
ment  already  presented  on  the  Sabbath-law  as  being 
founded  in  the  very  structure  of  the  human  constitu 
tion.  It  is  no  less  evident  from  the  intimate  con 
nexion  between  the  business  of  a  people  and  the  state 
of  the  public  morals,  and  the  dependence  of  this, 
again,  upon  the  respect  paid  to  the  Sabbath.  It  is 
of  the  last  importance  to  the  mercantile  body,  that 
the  country  should  be  pervaded  with  a  healthful 
morality.  Whatever  lowers  the  tone  of  integrity, 
multiplies  the  discomforts  of  trade  and  augments  its 
losses.  If  you  do  anything  to  impair  the  general 
reverence  for  the  Supreme  Being  and  for  his  law, 
you  are  counterworking  your  own  pecuniary  interests : 
and,  sooner  or  later,  unlooked-for  delinquencies  and 
frauds  among  your  customers  or  clerks,  may  remind 


THE   PLATFORM    OF   CHRISTIANITY.  327 

you  of  your  error.  But  me  desecration  of  the  Sab 
bath  is  a  measure  of  this  sort  —  and  one  of  the  most 
decisive  you  could  put  your  hands  to.  For  the  pre 
servation  of  religion  and  virtue  among  a  people,  de 
pends  essentially,  under  Providence,  upon  the  Sab 
bath.  Christianity  has  her  Bible,  her  sanctuaries, 
her  systems  of  religious  education,  her  munificent 
array  of  benevolent  institutions :  but  what  are  all 
these  without  a  day  of  rest?  The  Sabbath  is  the 
PLATFORM  on  which  this  whole  machinery  stands; 
and  to  strike  that  down,  would  be  well-nigh  to  para 
lyze  the  agencies  by  which  the  Gospel  is  carrying 
forward  its  sublime  mission  of  regenerating  the  wTorld. 
If  men  loved  Christianity,  the  case  were  different. 
But  they  do  not  love  her.  They  will  not  of  them 
selves  seek  her  out  and  supplicate  her  blessings. 
She  must  come  to  them,  as  her  Divine  Founder  came 
from  heaven  to  "to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was 
lost"  ;  and  to  do  this,  she  must  have  a  season  appro 
priated  to  the  purpose,  a  day  set  apart  by  authority, 
when  business  shall  intermit  its  traffickings  and  plea 
sure  its  frivolities,  and  politics  its  debates,  and  house 
wifery  its  toil,  and  all  the  tribes  and  conditions  of 
humanity  be  allowed  to  pause  and  listen  to  the  voice 
of  God  as  He  speaks  to  them  in  His  Word.  The 
Sabbath  supplies  this  opportunity.  It  is  in  itself  a 
most  wholesome  and  impressive  memorial  of  a  super- 


328          T1$E   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

intending  Providence.  The  tranquil  wharves  of  a 
Sabbath-keeping  city,  the  long  rows  of  closed  ware 
houses,  the  peaceful  streets,  the  silent  Banks  and 
Exchange,  all  proclaim  that  THERE  is  A  GOD.  This 
weekly  rest  is  a  Witness  for  Him  in  a  world  which 
is  perpetually  prone  to  forget  Him.  It  is  a  Witness 
to  his  power,  in  the  work  of  creation  and  in  the 
resurrection  of  Christ ;  to  his  wisdom,  in  ordaining 
this  season  of  repose ;  to  his  goodness  and  grace,  in 
providing  its  manifold  benefits ;  and  to  his  sovereignty, 
in  the  right  he  herein  challenges  to  control  our  time 
and  all  our  affairs.  —  If  just  conceptions  of  the  Deity 
are  essential  to  sound  morality,  then  must  it  be  ad 
mitted  that  the  Sabbath  is  one  of  the  main  buttresses 
of  the  public  morals. 

Again,  experience  has  shown,  that  Sabbath-keeping 
is  friendly  to  all  the  virtues,  while  Sabbath-desecration 
readily  affiliates  with  all  the  vices.  Dealing  with 
men  in  masses,  those  who  observe  this  day  in  the 
spirit  of  the  institution,  will  usually  be  found  on  the 
side  of  industry,  frugality,  honesty,  intelligence,  and 
good  citizenship ;  while  those  who  habitually  profane 
it,  will  generally  be  more  or  less  addicted  to  idleness, 
fraud,  prodigality,  swearing,  intemperance,  or  other 
vices.  The  true  way  to  secure  trust-worthy  clerks 
and  faithful  warehouse-men,  to  gather  around  your 
great  establishments  a  body  of  subordinates  and 


THE  PALLADIUM  OF  LIBERTY.       329 

helpers  who  can  be  relied  upon  in  all  exigencies,  and 
who  will  do  your  work  thoroughly  and  cheerfully,  is, 
to  encourage  all  in  your  employ  to  honour  the  Sab 
bath.  Loyalty  to  God  is  the  best  guarantee  of  fidelity 
to  man.  And  he  who  can  trample  upon  a  Divine 
command,  has  weakened,  if  not  subverted,  the  prin 
ciple  which  binds  him  to  be  upright  in  his  dealings 
with  his  neighbours. 

On  a  still  broader  view,  this  "  rest-day"  has  an 
imperative  claim  upon  the  citizens  of  this  country. 
It  is  scarcely  a  figure  to  characterize  it  as  the  palla 
dium  of  our  liberties.  The  historical  fact  is  of  preg 
nant  import,  that  despots,  whether  political  or  sacer 
dotal,  have  always  been  hostile  to  the  evangelical 
Sabbath.  It  was  in  logical  harmony  with  the  whole 
genius  of  the  Stuart  dynasty,  that  James  I.,  and, 
after  him,  Charles  I.,  should  attempt  to  break  down 
the  Sabbath  by  imposing  the  "Book  of  Sports"  upon 
the  British  people.  It  is  in  keeping  with  the  spirit 
which  controls,  and  has  always  controlled,  the  Euro 
pean  despotisms,  that  they  should  encourage  their 
subjects  to  turn  the  Sabbath  into  a  day  of  amuse 
ment.  A  nation  that  moils  for  six  days  and  frolicks 
the  seventh,  is  about  as  fit  material  for  a  tyrant  as 
could  be  desired.  But  a  tyrant  could  do  nothing 
with  a  people  who  had  free  access  to  the  Bible,  and 
assembled  every  Sunday  in  their  sanctuaries  to  listen 
28* 


330          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

to  the  faithful  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  Such  a 
people  would  have  too  much  intelligence  to  wear  the 
yoke  of  an  oppressor.  They  would  understand  their 
rights  and  have  the  courage  to  assert  them.  Neither 
crown  nor  mitre  could  terrify  them  into  a  servile  sub 
mission  to  wrong,  nor  put  off  their  demand  for  their 
proper  franchises  with  a  sop  of  beggarly  amusements. 
This  is  but  too  well  understood  in  the  countries 
referred  to.  In  Spain,  in  Austria,  in  France,  in 
Italy,  the  grand  policy  of  the  reigning  authorities, 
civil  and  ecclesiastical,  is  to  keep  the  people  in  igno 
rance  of  the  Bible  ;  to  deny  them  all  instructive 
preaching,  prevent  even  the  private  study  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  make  the  Sabbath  (after  the  morning 
service ! )  a  scene  of  mirth  and  dissipation.  If  we 
are  to  preserve  and  transmit  to  other  times,  a  govern 
ment  the  reverse  of  all  these  —  a  government,  free, 
just,  enlightened,  beneficent  in  all  its  tendencies,  and 
supported,  not  by  the  bayonets  of  a  standing  army, 
native  or  foreign,*  but  by  the  generous  affections  of 
its  citizens,  we  must  reverse  the  means  and  implements 
of  their  policy,  and  secure  to  our  entire  population  an 
OPEN  BIBLE  and  a  SCRIPTURAL  SABBATH.  This  will 
be  no  precarious  defence  against  domestic  usurpation 
and  foreign  aggression,  against  the  turbulence  of 
faction  and  the  violence  of  anarchy,  against  the 

*  Look  at  the  Papal  throne. 


HOSTILE   AGENCIES.  331 

subtleties  of  priestcraft  and  the  ravings  of  atheism. 
That  all  these  evil  agencies  should  be  hostile  to  the 
Christian  Sabbath  in  its  true  import,  is  a  fact  which 
deserves  to  be  pondered  by  candid  and  patriotic  men 
of  whatever  sect  or  party  :  it  might  help  to  open  the 
eyes  of  some  who  have  inconsiderately  discounte 
nanced  measures  designed  to  rescue  "the  Lord's 
day"  from  desecration.  In  every  aspect  in  which 
the  question  can  be  viewed,  they  will  find  that  this 
invaluable  institution  is  identified  no  less  with  all  our 
material  interests  as  a  nation,  than  with  the  improve 
ment  and  happiness  of  individuals  and  families. 

I  know  not  how  these  general  views  may  impress 
the  minds  of  the  Merchants  whom  it  is  my  privilege 
to  address,  but  it  will  be  proper  to  show  that  the 
Sabbath  has  other  and  more  direct  claims  upon  your 
homage :  —  I  mean,  a  Sabbath  kept  in  the  true  spirit 
of  this  divine  ordinance.  You  might  yield  a  vague 
assent  to  the  reasonings  which  have  been  urged,  and 
reckon  yourselves  among  the  friends  of  the  Sabbath, 
while,  nevertheless,  you  would  deem  it  no  infraction 
of  the  fourth  commandment,  to  appropriate  the  day, 
or  a  considerable  portion  of  it,  to  the  posting  of  books, 
to  your  commercial  correspondence,  to  the  revision 
of  your  plans  or  the  projecting  of  new  ones,  or  to  a 
journey  to  some  neighbouring  city.  But  this  is  not 
keeping  the  Sabbath.  The  command  is,  "  Remember 


332          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

the  Sabbath-day  to  keep  it  'holy.'''  This  surely  im 
ports  something  more  than  that  you  are  not  to  open 
your  Counting-Houses  and  require  the  attendance  of 
your  clerks  and  porters,  and  make  that  day  in  all 
respects  like  the  other  six.  No  merchant  can  do  this 
in  our  cities  without  losing  caste  among  his  brethren. 
It  is  not  deemed  respectable  to  do  it ;  and  it  were, 
therefore,  a  very  equivocal  sort  of  compliment  to 
applaud  a  man  for  abstaining  from  it.  The  commer 
cial  sentiment  still  sanctions  the  transaction  of  Post- 
office  business  on  the  Sabbath,  although  without  any 
adequate  reason.  In  particular  cases  this  is,  of  course, 
proper:  "necessity  or  mercy"  may  demand  it,  and 
to  proscribe  it  in  such  instances,  were  to  be  "  righteous 
over-much."  But  there  is  no  sufficient  reason  for 
converting  the  exception  into  the  rule.  If  there  is 
any  city  in  the  world  which  requires  a  general  delivery 
on  Sunday,  it  must  be  the  financial  centre  of  the 
world,  London.  It  is  preposterous  to  claim  in  behalf 
of  any  community,  an  extent  of  Post-office  accommo 
dation  beyond  that  which  satisfies  the  two  millions  of 
that  great  capital.  And  they  are  satisfied  with  having 
their  Post-office  closed  on  the  Sabbath.  This  was 
demonstrated  three  years  ago  in  the  most  conclusive 
manner,  by  the  memorials  sent  up  to  Parliament  from 
the  metropolis,  in  favour  of  closing  all  the  Post-offices 
throughout  the  United  Kingdom  on  that  day.  These 


THE   LONDON   POST-OFFICES.  333 

petitions,  which  were  very  emphatic  in  their  language, 
wrere  signed  by  many  thousands  of  citizens,  including 
nearly  all  the  principal  bankers  and  merchants.  If 
the  commerce  of  London  thrives  under  an  arrange 
ment  of  this  kind,  that  of  Philadelphia  or  New  York 
would  not  suffer  from  a  similar  one.* 

*  As  a  specimen  of  the  papers  alluded  to,  I  subjoin  one 
which  was  circulated  among  the  London  BANKERS.  Similar 
"  Declarations"  were  signed  by  the  leading  Mercantile  firms, 
the  principal  Surgeons  and  Solicitors,  and  the  Aldermen,  of 
the  Metropolis.  This  honourable  example  of  a  great  com 
mercial  community  coming  forward  to  secure  to  the  public 
servants  in  the  numerous  Post-offices  of  the  realm  an  unbroken 
Sabbath,  is  in  striking  contrast  with  the  spirit  displayed  on 
the  same  question  in  some  of  our  own  cities.  May  it  not  be 
hoped  that  something  of  this  magnanimity  will  yet  be  exhi 
bited  on  this  side  of  the  water? 

DECLARATION. 

LONDON,  January,  1850. 

We,  the  undersigned,  being  strongly  impressed  with  a 
belief  that  there  exists  no  greater  necessity  to  justify  the 
transaction  of  the  ordinary  business  of  receiving  and  deliver 
ing  letters  on  the  Sabbath-day,  in  any  of  the  Post-offices  of 
the  United  Kiugdom,  than  in  those  of  the  Metropolis,  do 
hereby  earnestly  request  her  Majesty's  Government  to  take 
into  immediate  consideration,  the  expediency  and  propriety 
of  causing  the  same  to  be  discontinued,  by  ordering  the  Post- 
offices  in  the  country  to  be  altogether  closed  on  that  day. 

This  belief  is  grounded  on  the  following  facts :  — 
1.  That  the  Metropolis,  containing  a  population  of  2,200,000 
souls,  has  never  experienced  any  necessity  for  the  open 
ing  of  the  Metropolitan  Post-offices  on  Sundays. 


334          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

But  I  have  no  intention  to  discuss  this  topic.  I 
am  simply  insisting  upon  a  faithful  dedication  of  the 
Sabbath  to  its  legitimate  uses,  as  an  object  of  the 
greatest  moment  to  the  commercial  body.  My  young 

2.  That  the  great  acceleration  which  has  recently  taken  place 
in  the  postal  communications  throughout  the  empire,  must 
necessarily  diminish,  to  a  very  great  extent,  any  inconve 
nience  which  it  might  otherwise  be  supposed  would  arise 
from  closing  the  Provincial  Post-offices  on  Sunday. 
And  believing  that  the  effectual  preservation  of  a  seventh 
day  of  rest  from  their  ordinary  labour,  is  a  principle  of  vital 
importance  to  the  physical  and  social  well-being  of  the  poorer 
classes  of  society,  whilst  the  due  observance  of  the  Lord's  day 
is  a  duty  of  solemn  obligation  upon  all  classes  of  the  commu 
nity,  we  agree  to  take  such  measures  as  may  appear  best  cal 
culated  to  press  the  foregoing  considerations  on  the  attention 
of  the  Government  and  the  Legislature. 
Baring  Brothers,  Fullers  &  Co. 

Williams,  Deacon  &  Co.  Barnard,  Barnard  &  Dimsdale, 

Hankeys  &  Co.  Drewett  &  Fowler, 

Barclay,  Bevan,  Tritton  &  Co.  Cunliffes  &  Co. 
Jones,  Lloyd  &  Co.  II.  E.  Gurney, 

Masterman,  Peters  &  Co.          Samuel  Gurney,  Jun. 
Robarts,  Curtis  &  Co.  A.  &  G.  W.  Alexander  &  Co. 

Smith,  Payne  &  Smiths,  Charles  Hoare  &  Co. 

Denison  &  Co.  Goslings  &  Sharpe, 

Price,  Marryatt  &  Co.  Child  &  Co. 

Barnett,  Hoares  &  Co.  Praeds  and  Co. 

Hanbury,  Taylor  &  Lloyd,        Dixon,  Brooks  &  Dixon. 
Rogers,  Olding  &  Co.  Strahan  &  Co. 

Bosanquet,  Franks  &  Co.  11.  Twining  &  Co. 

Spooner,  Attwood  &  Co.  Herries,  Farquhar  &  Co. 

Brown,  Janson  &  Co.  Ransom  &  Co. 

Sapte,  Muspratt,  Bunbury  &    Bouverie  &  Co. 

Co.  Charles  Ilopkinson  &  Co. 


INSANITY.  335 

friend  whom  I  quoted  in  the  opening  of  this  Lecture, 
spoke  of  its  absolute  necessity  to  the  merchant  and 
his  coadjutors  as  a  season  of  physical  rest.  But  it  is 
(as  he,  indeed,  intimated)  far  more  than.  this.  It  is 
an  institution  demanded  by  our  intellectual  nature. 
Hepose  is  as  essential  to  the  mind  as  to  the  body.  A 
British  writer  has  observed,  "  We  never  knew  a  man 
work  seven  days  in  a  week,  who  did  not  kill  himself 
or  kill  his  mind."  The  records  of  our  Insane  Asy 
lums  will  supply  painful  confirmation  of  this  remark. 
Scores  of  merchants  have  paid,  in  these  Institutions, 
the  penalty  of  a  devotion  to  business  which  robbed 
them  of  their  weekly  rest.  The  brain  will  not  bear 
the  continued  tension  of  the  Counting-room  —  the 
feverish  excitement  of  an  insatiate  craving  after 
wealth.  It  gets  dizzy  with  looking  for  ever  at  figures 
and  calculations,  flitting  from  one  speculation  to  an 
other,  counting  its  losses,  anticipating  its  gains,  con 
triving  new  schemes,  plotting  and  counter-plotting 
against  competitors,  all  its  energies  on  the  stretch, 
all  its  time  swallowed  up,  its  whole  being  concentrated 
in  the  one  inexorable  passion  of  accumulation ;  —  how 
is  it  possible  that  the  brain  should  stand  all  this  ? 
"  I  should  have  been  a  dead  man,"  said  a  distinguished 
financier  and  capitalist,  referring  to  the  memorable 
epoch  of  '37,  "had  it  not  been  for  the  Sabbath. 
Obliged  to  work  from  morning  till  night  through  the 


336          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

whole  week,  I  felt  on  Saturday,  especially  on  Satur 
day  afternoon,  as  if  I  must  have  rest.  It  was  like 
going  into  a  dense  fog.  Everything  looked  dark  and 
gloomy,  as  if  nothing  could  be  saved.  I  dismissed 
all,  and  kept  the  Sabbath  in  the  good  old  way.  On 
Monday  it  was  all  sunshine.  But  had  it  not  been  for 
the  Sabbath,  I  have  no  doubt  I  should  have  been  in 
my  grave."  There  was  sound  philosophy  as  well  as 
piety  in  his  course.  Some  men  would  have  said  he 
"lost  a  day"  every  week  by  it.  He  knew  that  a 
clear  head  for  six  days,  would  be  of  more  value  to 
him  than  an  additional  twenty-four  hours  with  an 
overtasked  and  distracted  brain ;  and  he  took  the 
only  way  to  secure  it.  The  common  mistake  lies  in 
overlooking  this.  Amidst  the  whirl  of  business,  con 
founded  with  the  magnitude  and  variety  of  the  cares 
which  are  pressing  upon  you,  the  only  want  you  are 
conscious  of,  is  "more  time."  And  so,  when  you 
have  used  up  all  your  own  days,  you  seize  upon  that 
day  which  your  beneficent  Creator  has  reserved  to 
Himself,  (or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  given  to  you 
in  trust,)  and  appropriate  this  also  to  your  purposes. 
The  Sunday  you  have  taken  to  mature  an  "  opera 
tion,"  to  write  some  important  financial  letters,  to 
hold  a  conference  with  certain  friendly  brokers,  to 
make  a  trip  to  New  York  or  Harrisburg  —  is  jotted 
down  in  your  memoranda  as  so  much  "  clear  gain." 


SAVING   A   DAY.  337 

But  no  good  ever  comes,  in  the  long  run,  of  taking 
what  does  not  belong  to  us.  What  you  have  "  gained" 
in  time,  you  have  more  than  lost  in  the  violence  done 
to  your  mental  frame-work,  and  your  consequent  inca 
pacity  (comparatively  speaking)  to  administer  wisely 
the  interests  you  have  in  hand.  The  point  does  not 
admit  of  proof,  but  if  a  guess  may  be  allowed,  the 
failure  of  many  a  firm  is  to  be  charged  to  the  Sunday- 
lines  on  our  railroads.  I  do  not  allude  to  those 
"Excursion -trains"  so  needful,  as  certain  philan 
thropists  contend,  to  the  "  relaxation"  of  the  working- 
classes,  which  often  bring  back  their  passengers  at 
evening,  draggled  and  worn  out,  and  all  the  worse  in 
health,  purse,  and  morals,  for  their  day's  "  pleasur 
ing."  I  speak  of  the  strictly  business-jaunts  of  mer 
cantile  men,  who,  to  "  save  time,"  turn  the  Sabbath 
into  a  day  of  travel.  It  must  frequently  happen  with 
others,  as  with  the  financier  just  quoted,  that  Satur 
day  afternoon  finds  their  affairs  all  in  a  "  fog,"  or,  in 
any  event,  finds  them  so  weary  or  so  excited,  as  to  be 
quite  disqualified  for  the  calm  solution  of  any  com 
mercial  problem.  If  they  were  content  to  use  their 
"rest-day"  as  a  rest,  its  hallowed  influences  would 
recruit  their  strength,  allay  their  perturbation,  restore 
their  powers  to  their  proper  balance,  and  prepare 
them  to  grapple  with  difficulties  on  Monday  in  a  very 
different  condition  from  that  in  which  they  retired  to 
29 


338          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

their  homes  on  Saturday  evening.  But  suppose  they, 
carry  their  perplexities  (or  their  brilliant  projects  of 
self-aggrandizement,  as  the  case  may  be,)  to  their 
pillows,  pore  over  them  all  their  Sabbath  morning, 
with  the  same  servile  and  absorbing  devotion  they 
lavished  upon  them  through  the  week,  and,  in  the 
afternoon,  throw  themselves  into  the  cars  and  hurry 
off  to  New  York  to  consummate  on  the  morrow,  the 
measures  they  have  digested :  —  will  it  be  a  strange 
thing  if,  in  the  sequel,  a  policy  thus  begotten  shall 
prove  an  opprobrium  and  a  vexation  to  its  authors  ? 
And  can  it  be  doubted,  that  this  precise  form  of  Sab 
bath-breaking  has  had  a  potential  agency  in  the  ruin 
of  very  many  of  the  firms  which  have  become  bank 
rupt  in  our  cities  ?  A  candid  investigation  of  our 
commercial  disasters,  could  not  fail  to  set  in  its  true 
light  this  too  popular  expedient  for  "saving  a  day." 
It  would  show  our  merchants,  that  in  the  long  run, 
all  the  days  thus  "  saved,"  were  pretty  certain  to  gravi 
tate  to  the  debit  side  of  the- Profit  and  Loss  Account. 
And  it  might  satisfy  them  of  what  they  are  so  "  slow 
of  heart  to  believe"  on  the  authority  of  the  Bible, 
that  success  and  failure  even  in  temporal  matters,  are 
closely  interwoven  with  the  manner  in  which  the  Sab 
bath  is  observed.  (See  Isa.  56  :  2.  58  :  13,  14.  Neh. 
13 :  15  —  22,  and  various  parallel  passages.) 

This,  however,  is  but  a  part  of  the  truth.     A  well- 


MENTAL   CULTURE.  339 

spent  Sabbath  does  much  more  for  the  mind  than 
secure  to  it  needful  rest  and  refreshment.  It  helps 
to  counteract  that  cramping  and  mercenary  tendency 
so  often  alluded  to,  as  incident  to  a  life  of  trafficking. 
It  supplies  in  a  measure  those  opportunities  for  intel 
lectual  culture,  the  want  of  which  merchants  so  fre 
quently  deplore  —  and  that,  without  their  resorting 
to  any  pursuits  which  are  incompatible  with  the 
sacredness  of  the  day.  A  simple  change  of  scene  or 
occupation  is  useful  to  all  the  powers.  Our  percep 
tive  and  reasoning  faculties,  if  kept  to  a  monotonous 
routine  of  subjects,  lose  either  their  vigour  or  their 
symmetry.  You  can  well  understand  what  sort  of  a 
mind  a  boy  would  have,  who  should  study  nothing 
but  arithmetic,  or  nothing  but  orthography,  from 
one  year's  end  to  another.  And  the  case  must  be 
still  worse  with  an  individual  whose  whole  time  and 
thoughts  are  absorbed  from  New  Year's  to  Christmas 
in  buying  and  selling.  Every  merchant  knows  the 
relief  derived  from  a  summer's  excursion  into  the 
country  or  to  the  sea-shore.  You  return  from  these 
rambles  not  simply  with  improved  health,  but  with  a 
sensible  increase  of  mental  activity  and  energy. 
Fresh  air  and  exercise  have  done  their  share  of  this ; 
but  they  have  not  done  it  all.  Instead  of  looking 
for  ever  at  Ledgers,  and  counters,  and  shelves  of 
ginghams  and  calicoes,  and  packing-boxes,  and  drays, 


340          THE    BIBLE    IN    THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

you  have  been  looking  upon  the  green  fields,  and  the 
ocean,  and  the  starry  firmament.  You  have  been  saun 
tering  through  the  woods,  climbing  mountains,  display 
ing  your  awkward  equestrianism  on  country  horses, 
riding  in  waggons  without  springs  over  country  roads, 
making  hay  with  the  farmers  for  amusement,  shoot 
ing,  angling,  sailing,  bathing,  sleeping  —  watching 
the  endless  phases  of  human  life  at  a  watering-place — 
the  grave,  the  gay,  the  consequential,  the  profound, 
the  taciturn,  the  flippant,  the  choice  few  whose  ster 
ling  worth  and  attractive  manners  make  a  ready  place 
for  them  in  every  group  and  coterie  —  and  you  have 
come  back  from  your  rustication,  all  the  better  for 
the  very  trifles  which  have  served  to  amuse  you. 
The  secret  of  this,  is,  that  you  have  thrown  off  for  a 
while  the  drag-chain  of  business,  and  given  mind  and 
body  a  holiday.  Your  established  trains  of  thought 
have  been  broken  in  upon.  Goods  and  customers 
and  discounts  and  bills  payable,  and  the  other  com 
mon-places  which  constitute  your  daily  intellectual 
rations  during  so  large  a  portion  of  the  year,  have 
been  replaced,  for  the  time,  with  condiments  of  a 
very  different  character.  New  objects  have  called 
dormant  powers  into  exercise.  The  indomitable  trade- 
spirit  has  been  mitigated  by  a  larger  development  of 
the  social  sympathies.  Taste  and  imagination  have 
begun  to  flutter  their  pinions.  And  you  have  returned 


BKOADER   VIEWS   OF   LIFE.  341 

to  your  Counting-Houses,  with  broader  views  of  life 
and  a  juster  consciousness  of  your  powers,  than  you 
had  before  you  took  this  vacation. 

Let  this  illustrate  what  the  SABBATH  will  do  for 
you  —  wThat  it  actually  is  doing  for  all  who  keep  it 
properly.  One  of  its  most  obvious  and  uniform 
effects,  is  to  enlarge  one's  horizon.  As  you  sit  from 
day  to  day  in  your  counting-rooms,  or  make  your 
diurnal  visit  to  the  Exchange,  or  lose  yourselves  in 
abstruse  calculations,  or  hurry  through  one  transac 
tion  after  another  with  your  customers  and  agents, 
you  are  very  apt  to  suppose  that  what  you  see  and 
hear  and  feel  around  you,  is  the  world;  that  this 
great  domain  of  commerce,  ("great,"  as  you  view  it,) 
comprises  the  centre  and  circumference  of  your  being ; 
and  that,  so  matters  prosper  here,  you  need  not  con 
cern  yourselves  about  objects  and  interests  which 
"lie  beyond."  The  day  of  rest  dispels  this  illusion. 
It  takes  you  to  an  eminence  which  shows  you  how 
insignificant  a  portion  of  "the  world"  the  realm  of 
merchandize  is,  and  how  fatally  you  wrong  your  own 
intellectual  nature,  by  shutting  it  up  among  the  ships 
and  spindles  of  commerce.  Not  only  does  it  suspend 
the  current  of  secular  thought  and  feeling  which  is 
wearing  such  deep  and  jagged  channels  into  your 
moral  being  through  the  week,  but  the  themes  it 
offers  to  your  contemplation,  are  the  noblest  to  which 
99  * 


342          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

the  human  mind  can  be  directed.  "  The  instruction 
dispensed  on  this  day"  (I  use  the  eloquent  language 
of  a  Working-man)  "is  of  a  character  calculated  to 
expand,  refine,  and  sublimate  the  mind.  It  embraces 
a  boundless  range  of  topics,  from  the  simplest  elements 
of  knowledge  appreciable  by  the  dullest  intellect,  to 
the  most  recondite  mysteries  that  baffle  the  highest 
reason.  It  unseals  the  fountain-head  of  truth  in  the 
nature  of  God.  It  unlocks  the  treasures  of  divine 
philosophy  in  creation,  in  providence,  and  in  redemp 
tion.  It  impresses  into  its  sacred  service  whatever 
is  beautiful  in  nature,  grand  in  science,  and  instruc 
tive  in  art;  whatever  is  pure  in  ethics,  lovely  in 
virtue,  and  sublime  in  revelation ;  whatever  is  moni 
tory  in  the  past,  perilous  in  the  present,  and  inspirit 
ing  in  the  future.  It  leads  the  mind  backward  to  the 
ages  before  the  flood,  to  the  paradisaical  state  of  man, 
to  the  origin  of  the  universe,  and  thence  to  the  vast 
solitudes  of  a  past  eternity  ;  or  it  urges  the  shrinking 
spirit  forwards  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of 
death  —  through  the  dark  and  populous  empire  of  the 
grave  —  into  the  august  presence  of  the  Judge  of  all 
the  earth  —  to  the  home  of  the  beatified  —  to  the 
pandemonium  of  the  wicked  —  and  outwards  into  the 
immensities  of  the  everlasting  future  !  It  addresses 
itself  to  all  the  faculties  and  passions  of  the  soul ;  it 
illumines  the  understanding,  sobers  the  judgment, 


DOMESTIC    RE-UNIONS.  343 

thrills  the  heart,  softens  the  feelings,  energises  the 
conscience,  and  sanctifies  the  deepest  affections  of  our 
mysterious  nature."  * 

It  is  impossible  for  any  person  of  the  least  candour 
to  contemplate  this  process,  without  feeling  that  a 
well-spent  Sabbath  is  of  the  highest  value  in  pro 
moting  the  intellectual  culture  of  individuals  and  the 
general  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  a  community. 

Its  importance  to  the  mercantile  classes  in  another 
view,  as  restoring  them  for  one  day  in  seven  to  their 
families,  and  giving  them,  even  at  the  busiest  seasons, 
opportunities  for  those  domestic  duties  and  enjoyments 
of  which  they  are  much  of  the  time  deprived,  must  be 
too  apparent  to  escape  notice.  This  is,  in  fact,  one 
of  the  most  interesting  and  grateful  aspects  in  which 
the  Merchant's  Sabbath  can  be  viewed.  No  man 
need  be  a  stranger  in  his  own  house,  nor  a  cipher  in 
respect  to  the  training  of  his  children,  who  has  his 
periodical  day  of  rest  at  his  control.  Nor  are  there 
any  families  bound  together  by  such  tender  and 
enduring  ties,  as  those  which  appreciate  these  weekly 
"re-unions,"  and  keep  the  day  in  a  spirit  of  cheerful 
piety  and  true  household  fellowship. 

But  I  must  waive  this  theme  for  another  still  more 
important.  The  danger  which  waits  upon  you  in  all 

*  "  Heaven's  Antidote  to  the  Curse  of  Labour" :  the  First 
of  the  "  Prize-Essays  on  the  Sabbath." 


344          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

the  walks  of  trade  —  the  sin  which  spreads  its  toils 
around  your  feet,  and  beguiles  you  onward  in  the 
road  to  ruin  —  is  that  of  neglecting  your  salvation. 
The  tempter  plies  you  with  the  insidious  plea,  that 
you  have  "no  time"  for  religion,  until  you  come  at 
length  to  believe  this  with  a  confidence  which  repels 
alike  the  solicitations  of  the  Gospel  and  the  warnings 
of  Providence.  It  would  be  very  easy  to  expose  the 
fallacy  of  this  notion  even  as  regards  the  six  working 
days  :  for  it  were  wiser  and  better  to  neglect  business, 
property,  family,  everything  earthly,  than  to  neglect 
the  soul.  But  it  is  not  necessary  to  do  this.  Chris 
tianity  does  not  demand  it :  its  tendency  is,  rather, 
to  make  men  better  merchants,  better  husbands  and 
fathers,  better  citizens,  and  more  thoroughly  qualified 
for  the  duties  proper  to  these  relations.  And,  then, 
as  if  to  meet  this  very  difficulty  of  a  "  want  of  time" 
for  your  spiritual  concerns,  it  has  given  you  the 
weekly  rest  to  be  appropriated  primarily  to  these 
interests.  Foreseeing  that  business,  if  permitted, 
would  monopolize  your  whole  time,  and  cheat  you 
out  of  all  opportunity  to  prepare  for  heaven,  God  was 
pleased  to  put  the  seal  of  a  peculiar  sacredness  upon 
every  seventh  day,  and  to  convey  it  to  you  in  trust 
for  this  specific  purpose.  He  "made  the  Sabbath" 
for  you,  that  you  might  not  have  it  to  say,  "  I  have 
no  time  to  repent  and  make  my  peace  with  God." 


A    MUNIFICENT   GIFT.  345 

He  shut  it  in  from  the  encroachments  of  avarice, 
from  the  usurpations  of  ambition,  from  the  seductions 
of  sensual  pleasure,  from  the  exactions  of  authority, 
from  the  turbulence  and  impiety  of  a  selfish,  grasping, 
atheistic  world,  from  all  the  multitudinous  influences 
which  are  combined  to  keep  man  in  an  interminable 
subjection  to  sin  and  Satan  —  he  shut  it  in  by  his 
own  omnipotence,  that  you,  and  all  his  creatures, 
might  be  able  constantly  to  recruit  your  strength  for 
the  duties  and  temptations  of  life,  and  to  prepare  for 
death,  judgment,  and  eternity.  So  munificent  a  gift 
should  be  faithfully  applied  to  its  prescribed  objects. 
To  pervert  or  neglect  it,  is  to  superadd  the  guilt  of  a 
base  ingratitude,  to  the  criminality  of  a  most  perilous 
neglect  of  your  own  souls.  The  Sabbath  comes  to 
you  as  a  messenger  of  mercy,  as  the  harbinger  of 
peace  and  hope  and  heaven.  It  spreads  before  you 
those  sacred  pages  written  all  over  with  words  of 
truth  and  grace,  and  supplying  the  only  chart  which 
can  conduct  you  to  the  skies.  It  brings  you  to  the 
Sanctuary  that  you  may  hear  of  God  and  redemption, 
of  heaven  and  hell,  of  the  "great  white  throne"  and 
the  awards  of  eternity.  It  leads  you  into  your  cham 
bers,  that  you  may  "commune  with  your  own  hearts," 
and  invoke  the  Divine  Spirit  to  cleanse  you  from  sin 
with  the  blood  of  the  cross  and  make  you  sincere  and 
humble  followers  of  Christ.  It  places  you  in  the 


346          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

midst  of  your  households,  and,  while  it  enkindles 
your  mutual  affection,  revives  the  impression  of  your 
responsibility  as  well  for  their  spiritual  as  their  secular 
training.  It  admonishes  you  of  your  stewardship, 
and  shows  you  whose  hand  it  is  that  has  prospered 
you,  and  to  what  uses  it  behooves  you  to  appropriate 
your  wealth.  It  deadens  your  grovelling  attach 
ments,  refines  and  elevates  your  feelings,  brings  you 
into  fellowship  with  the  wisest  and  best  of  the  race, 
and  makes  you  "  co-workers  with  God"  himself  in 
saving  and  blessing  a  lost  world.  —  All  this  the  Sab 
bath  does  for  every  one  who  remembers  it,  "  to  keep 
it  holy."  Many  among  you  have  found  it  so  in  your 
own  experience.  Let  those  who  have  hitherto  neg 
lected  it,  make  the  trial,  and  they  will  learn,  as  they 
never  learned  before,  the  import  of  that  saying 
"  THE  SABBATH  WAS  MADE  FOR  MAN  ! " 


RETIRING   FROM   BUSINESS.  347 


Knlnn 


THE   TRUE   RICHES.  —  LIVING   TO    DO    GOOD. 

IN  the  progress  of  these  Lectures,  I  have  had 
frequent  occasion  to  refer  to  the  subject  of  retiring 
from  business.  This  phrase  has  a  definitive  signifi 
cation,  which  is  well  understood.  As  a  practical 
question,  it  is  frequently  involved  in  great  embarrass 
ment  ;  but  there  are  few  Merchants  who  would  will 
ingly  give  up  the  hope  of  being  one  day  released 
from  the  cares  and  responsibilities  of  the  Counting- 
House.  To  prepare  for  this  change  is,  with  many 
of  you,  the  grand  employment  of  life  ;  and  you  are 
impatiently  reckoning  the  years  wThich  must  elapse, 
before  you  can  have  amassed  a  fortune  which  will 
justify  you  in  renouncing  the  bustling  domain  of 
commerce,  for  the  repose  and  comfort  of  a  genial 
Home.  I  censure  not  these  longings.  I  see  but  one 
thing  to  condemn  in  your  calculations.  It  is,  that 
you  are  apt  to  restrict  your  views  of  "retiring  from 
business,"  to  so  narrow  a  compass,  and  to  make  your 


348          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

arrangements  for  the  thing  itself  on  so  meagre  arid 
insufficient  a  scale.  You  think  of  it  only  as  a  matter 
of  choice  —  as  the  privilege  of  the  favoured  few  who 
may  rise  to  affluence  —  and  as  comprising  merely  the 
evening  of  an  active  life.  But  the  words  may  fairly 
be  taken  to  mean  a  great  deal  more  than  this.  You 
are  all  to  "retire  from  business"  —  whether  you 
desire  it  or  not  —  and  your  season  of  respite  will 
have  no  measurement  short  of  the  cycles  of  ETER 
NITY  !  When  it  is  added,  that  this  discharge  from 
the  pursuits  which  now  engross  you,  may  come  at 
any  moment  —  long  before  you  may  be  "ready"  to 
give  up  business  —  the  question  will  be  set  before 
you  in  something  of  the  grandeur  and  solemnity 
which  really  belong  to  it. 

If  this  be  sober  verity,  and  not  fiction,  it  is  the 
most  obvious  and  urgent  duty  of  every  individual, 
to  inquire  into  his  state  of  preparation  for  the 
scenes  before  him.  You  have  known  men  give 
up  merchandize  prematurely,  leaving  their  affairs 
involved,  or  with  resources  quite  inadequate  to  their 
support :  and  you  have  had  your  own  opinions  as  to 
their  prudence  and  sagacity.  But  what  would  be 
your  condition,  if  an  unseen  power  should  now  inter 
pose  and  withdraw  you  from  life  itself?  Are  you 
equipped  for  that  realm  to  which  life  is  the  mere 
vestibule  ?  Have  you  laid  by  a  competence  of  those 


FATAL   IMPROVIDENCE.  349 

"TRUE  RICHES"  which  will  avail  for  your  support 
and  comfort  there  ?  Or,  are  you  guilty  of  the  neglect 
you  rebuke  in  others,  the  only  difference  being  that 
their  improvidence  has  respect  to  this  transitory  state, 
yours,  to  the  endless  future  of  the  soul  ? 

You  will  not,  in  reply  to  questions  like  these,  point 
to  your  capacious  warehouses,  your  well-filled  coffers, 
your  elegant  mansions,  and  your  honourable  position 
in  the  community.  This  might  answer,  if  the  inquiry 
were,  "  Shall  we  now  '  retire'  for  the  few  remaining 
years  or  days  that  may  remain  to  us  of  life  ?  "  But 
what  have  these  matters  to  do  with  retiring  for 
ETERNITY  ?  Who  is  so  visionary  as  to  think  of 
transferring  the  implements  and  avocations  of  com 
merce  to  that  world  ?  or  of  resuming  there  the  strife 
for  the  gold  which  perisheth  ?  Our  great  Epic  Poet, 
in  his  sketch  of  that  sublime  spectacle,  the  Council 
in  Pandemonium,  has,  indeed,  made  Mammon  say, 

"  This  desert  soil 

Wants  not  her  hidden  lustre,  gems  and  gold ; 
Nor  want  we  skill  or  art  from  whence  to  raise 
Magnificence  ;  and  what  can  Heaven  show  more  ?  " 

But  the  only  Teacher  empowered  to  speak  of  that 
world,  has  presented  us  with  another  portraiture 
eminently  affecting  and  suggestive  —  that  of  a  man 
once  "  clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen,"  lifting  up 
his  eyes  in  torment,  and  pleading  in  vain  for  a  drop 
30 


350          THE    BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

of  water  !  This  spectacle  may  stand  in  place  of 
a  thousand  homilies,  to  illustrate  the  madness  of 
living  merely  to  acquire  wealth  and  revel  in  luxury. 
There  can  be  no  greater  folly  than  for  a  man  to 
place  his  happiness  in  objects  and  interests  from 
which  he  must  soon  be  for  ever  ravished.  The 
loss  of  his  idols,  painful  as  that  may  be,  is 
but  a  small  part  of  the  inevitable  penalty  of  his 
error.  The  blow  which  strips  him  of  his  posses 
sions,  leaves  his  whole  moral  being  under  the  sway 
of  those  evil  passions  which  have  long  tyrannised 
over  him.  He  goes  into  eternity,  the  wretched  minion 
of  avarice,  or  at  least  the  bond-slave  of  a  sordid  secu- 
larity  —  all  his  principles,  all  his  habits,  all  his  aims, 
susceptibilities,  and  desires,  adjusted  to  this  world, 
and  utterly  alien  from  the  constitution  of  things  in 
the  spiritual  empire  of  which  he  is  henceforth  to  be  a 
denizen.  Could  he  destroy  his  identity,  or  annihilate 
his  memory,  existence  might  be  tolerable.  But  this 
cannot  be.  The  passions  he  has  nurtured  into  such 
gigantic  strength,  are  a  part  of  his  being ;  and  now, 
deprived  of  their  proper  external  objects,  and  ener 
gized  by  an  avenging  conscience,  they  will  turn  upon 
the  soul  with  unmitigable  fury,  and  "  their  torment 
will  be  as  the  torment  of  a  scorpion."  For  it  is  no 
arbitrary  decree,  but  a  law  of  humanity,  that  "what 
soever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap."  Nor 


EREOR   IX   A   SPECIOUS    GARB.  351 

does  it  furnish  any  ground  to  impeach  the  justice,  or 
even  the  goodness  of  the  Deity,  that  He  should  aban 
don  men  hereafter  to  the  retributive  mastery  of  those 
appetites,  which  were  permitted  to  usurp  His  authority 
over  them  while  here. 

In  an  enlightened  community  like  our  own,  the 
grossness  of  the  conception,  that  mere  wealth  can 
prepare  a  man  for  that  final  abdication  of  business 
of  which  we  have  been  speaking,  may  go  far  to 
prevent  its  obtaining  currency.  But  there  is  another 
sentiment  fraught  with  equal  peril  to  the  soul,  which 
comes  clad  in  the  garb  of  an  angel  of  light,  and  is 
certain  of  a  cordial  greeting  among  the  mercantile 
classes.  The  opinion  to  which  I  allude,  may,  not 
improbably,  have  fortified  itself,  in  some  minds,  from 
the  very  discussions  that  have  occupied  us  in  these 
Lectures ;  for  it  can  readily  pervert  to  its  own  pur 
poses,  arguments  designed  to  expose  its  fallacy. 

My  object  has  been,  to  get  the  BIBLE  installed  in 
the  CouNTiNa-HouSE,  as  the  only  arbiter  of  duty, 
and  the  regulator  of  all  the  diversified  concerns  of 
Commerce.  The  domain  we  have  been  traversing 
together,  is  that  rather  of  morality  than  of  theology. 
The  whole  burden  of  these  discourses  has  been  in  the 
direction  of  practical  godliness  —  the  actual  exempli 
fication  of  veracity,  integrity,  diligence,  moderation, 
and  kindness,  in  the  daily  routine  of  traffic.  And 


352          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

the  ready  conclusion  which  some  auditors  may  deduce 
from  these  premises  —  the  speculation  too  rife  in  the 
walks  of  commerce  wherever  her  masts  or  her  ware- 
rooms  are  to  be  found  —  is,  that  a  compliance  with 
these  precepts,  is  all  that  is  required  in  order  to 
SALVATION  :  "  this  do,  and  thou  shalt  live."  We 
derogate  nothing  from  the  intrinsic  excellence  nor 
the  indispensable  importance  of  these  virtues,  when 
we  admonish  you  that  this  is  a  most  serious  and  fatal 
error.  The  Bible  challenges  a  control  over  all  your 
relations  and  occupations,  and  exacts  a  rigid  confor 
mity  to  its  pure  ethics  in  every  transaction,  and  even 
in  every  word  and  thought,  of  your  lives ;  but  it  is 
careful  to  apprize  you  of  two  things  which  are  funda 
mental  to  the  Gospel  system.  One  is,  that  all  obedi 
ence,  to  be  acceptable,  must  be  animated  by  faith  in 
the  Redeemer  and  love  to  God :  and  the  other  is,  that 
by  no  possibility  can  our  own  works  avail  to  our 
pardon  and  salvation.  "By  the  deeds  of  the  law 
shall  no  flesh  be  justified."  Our  integrity  may  be 
unimpeachable,  our  lives  may  be  radiant  with  acts  of 
unostentatious  charity,  a  whole  community  may  unite 
in  applauding  our  virtues ;  but  if  our  hope  of  heaven 
have  no  better  foundation  than  this,  it  is  built  upon 
the  sand.  For  we  must  be  saved  either  by  works  or 
by  grace:  the  two  cannot  coalesce.  "  If  by  grace, 
then  is  it  no  more  of  works ;  otherwise  grace  is  no 


NO    SALVATION    BY   THE   LAW.  353 

more  grace.  But  if  it  be  of  works,  then  it  is  no  more 
grace  :  otherwise  work  is  no  more  work."  If  we  elect 
to  try  works  instead  of  grace  —  to  get  to  heaven 
through  the  merit  of  our  own  obedience  —  then, 
clearly,  we  must  obey  the  Divine  law  perfectly :  for 
an  imperfect  obedience  can  entitle  no  one  to  its 
rewards.  But  who  can  meet  the  full  requisitions  of 
a  law  which  extends  to  the  thoughts  and  intents  of 
the  heart,  forbids  the  slightest  improper  feeling  or 
emotion,  and  enjoins  a  holiness  as  immaculate  as  that 
of  the  seraphim  before  the  throne  ?  The  thing  is 
impossible.  We  can  make  no  remote  approximation 
to  it.  Human  nature  is  radically  diseased,  and 
demands  as  radical  a  cure.  The  very  examples 
which  seem  to  approach  nearest  to  the  Scripture 
standard  of  morality,  are  not  infrequently  vitiated 
by  a  latent  element  of  self-righteousness  which  must 
make  them  aan  abomination  in  the  sight  of  God." 
His  eye  is  upon  the  heart ;  and  that  it  is  His  own 
prerogative  to  renew. 

"  The  transformation  of  apostate  man 
From  fool  to  wise,  from  earthly  to  divine, 
Is  work  for  him  that  made  him." 

This  work  the  SPIRIT  OF  GOD  accomplishes.  It  is 
an  essential  step  in  that  free  salvation  which  is  the 
only  alternative  to  the  delusive  and  hopeless  scheme 
of  salvation  by  works.  Simultaneously  with  this 
30* 


854          THE   BIBLE   IX   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

change,  the  Spirit  convinces  the  sinner  of  sin,  shows 
him  the  corruption  of  his  heart,  the  imperfection  of 
his  obedience,  the  criminality  of  his  unbelief;  wakes 
up  in  his  bosom  an  ingenuous  sorrow  for  his  sins ; 
and  constrains  him,  as  an  humble  penitent,  to  cast 
himself  upon  the  mercy  of  God  in  JESUS  CHRIST. 
Trusting  in  the  atoning  blood  and  the  finished  righte 
ousness  of  Christ  for  salvation,  he  obtains  as  a  free 
gift,  that  plenary  pardon  which  he  never  could  have 
earned  by  his  obedience,  and  that  peace  of  mind 
which  can  be  found  no  where  in  the  universe  but  at 
the  Cross.  Henceforward  he  "loves  much"  because 
he  has  "much  forgiven."  He  carries  the  spirit  of 
true  religion  into  his  life,  and  faithfully,  though  still 
imperfectly,  endeavours  to  keep  the  law  of  God.  His 
integrity,  truthfulness,  and  benevolence,  now  rest  upon 
an  impregnable  basis.  And  the  sentiment  which  ani 
mates  his  conduct,  is  no  longer  the  mercenary  temper 
of  a  servant,  but  the  loving  gratitude  and  loyalty  of 
a  child.  He  serves  God,  not  that  he  may  be  saved, 
but  because  he  is  saved.  And  his  obedience,  conse 
quently,  is  impressed  with  a  breadth  and  a  compre 
hension,  a  generosity  and  a  cheerfulness,  as  remote 
as  possible  from  the  penurious  homage  he  formerly 
rendered,  while  trying  to  merit  salvation  by  his  own 
works  —  a  fellow-labourer  therein,  though  of  a  more 
dignified  character,  with  the  ascetic  iterating  his 


THE   TRUE    PLACE    OF   GOOD   WORKS.  355 

parrot-like  devotions  in  a  damp  cell,  with  the  Moham 
medan  on  his  burning  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  and  with 
the  Hindoo  swinging  through  the  air  by  a  hook 
inserted  in  the  sinews  of  his  body.  This  is  the  true 
place  of  practical  morality  in  the  Christian  scheme — 
not  the  foundation,  but  the  superstructure ;  not  the 
roots  and  the  trunk,  but  the  foliage  and  the  fruit  — 
the  effect  and  evidence  of  salvation,  not  its  procuring 
cause.  A  due  apprehension  of  this  truth  would  dispel 
the  precarious  hopes  to  which  very  many  are  now 
trusting,  and  turn  off  their  thoughts  from  their  own 
imaginary  or  superficial  goodness,  to  Him  who  is 
equally  able  and  willing  to  "  save  to  the  uttermost 
all  who  come  unto  God  by  him."  Just  in  proportion 
as  the  mercantile  classes  are  brought  under  the  influ 
ence  of  a  genuine  faith  in  Christ,  will  the  Bible  exert 
its  sacred  prerogative  in  their  Counting-Houses,  and 
their  current  secularities  effloresce  with  the  graces 
which  cement  and  embellish  the  social  state.  Herein 
too  consists  the  panoply  they  require  for  an  ex 
change  of  worlds  —  that  preparation  for  "retiring" 
ultimately  and  for  ever  from  business,  and  all  that 
pertains  to  it,  which  every  man  should  make,  who 
shrinks  from  going  portionless  into  eternity.  There 
is  nothing  in  eternity  —  nothing  in  the  dark  and 
chill  passage  which  leads  to  it  —  to  intimidate  the 
soul  that  is  united  to  Christ.  It  is  all  one  empire ; 


356          THE    BIBLE    IX   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

its  several  provinces  acknowledge  the  same  Sove 
reign  ;  that  Sovereign  is  "  THE  LOUD  OUR  RIGHTEOUS 
NESS,"  who  has  all  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth; 
and  the  pillars  of  his  throne  must  fall,  before  he  will 
suffer  a  soul  that  has  trusted  in  Him  to  perish.  How 
well  His  people  are  fortified  against  all  possible  want 
or  suffering  for  the  future,  can  be  known  only  to 
those  who  have  considered  the  resources  of  Omnipo 
tence.  In  receiving  them  into  a  vital  union  with 
himself,  Christ  endowed  them  with  his  own  inex 
haustible  wealth :  they  became  "HEIRS  OF  GOD  AND 
JOINT-HEIRS  WITH  JESUS  CHRIST" — language  which 
overpasses  our  comprehension,  and  makes  one  exclaim, 
in  thinking  of  the  believer's  heritage, 

"  My  soul,  with  all  the  powers  I  boast, 
Is  in  the  boundless  prospect  lost !  " 

These  treasures,  comprising,  as  they  do,  the  hopes 
and  consolations  of  the  Gospel  here,  and  its  ineffable 
and  eternal  rewards  hereafter,  may  well  be  styled 
the  "TRUE  RICHES."  Unlike  earthly  riches,  they 
have  a  substantial  and  indestructible  character.  They 
never  deceive.  No  one  is  ensnared  by  them.  No 
one  is  disappointed.  No  one  who  has  trusted  in 
them,  is  liable  to  have  his  property  wrested  from 
him.  They  satisfy  the  soul.  They  fill  its  utmost 
capacities.  No  moth  nor  rust  can  corrupt  them. 
No  thief  can  break  through  and  steal  them.  They 


THE   INALIENABLE   HERITAGE.  357 

resist  the  corrosion  of  time.    They  survive  all  changes 

—  even  death  itself.     The  departing  spirit,  compelled 
by  an  inexorable  law  to  relinquish  everything  else, 
even  to  the  very  tabernacle  in  which  it  has  dwelt, 
soars  aloft,  bearing  its  treasures  in  triumph  to  the 
skies  —  not  merely  retaining  all  it  has  previously 
owned,  but  invested,  at  that  moment,  with  fresh  hon 
ours  and  estates  as  much  transcending  in  extent  and 
splendour  the  proudest  demesnes  of  earthborn  royalty, 
as  these  excel  the  veriest  hovels  of  barbarism.     And 
as  it  hastens  to  join  the  white-robed  company  of  the 
ransomed,  and  to  cast  its  crown  at  the  Redeemer's 
feet,  those  pregnant  words  in  its  charter,  just  begin 
to  disclose  their  profound  and  wonderful  significance 

—  "ALL  THINGS  ARE  YOURS!" 

I  may  possibly  seem  to  you,  in  this  glance  at  the 
only  inalienable  portion  of  the  soul,  to  have  wandered 
quite  away  from  the  range  of  topics  which  immedi 
ately  concern  you  as  Merchants.  I  might  answer, 
that  although  Merchants,  you  are  men,  and,  as  such, 
heirs  of  eternity,  and  vitally  concerned  in  the  acqui 
sition  of  a  heritage  beyond  the  grave.  But  I  choose 
rather  to  avail  myself  of  the  state  of  feeling  just 
hinted  at,  as  an  indication  of  the  repugnance,  or  at 
least  the  want  of  congeniality,  there  is,  between  the 
prevailing  tone  of  the  commercial  world,  and  the 
spirit  of  true  Christianity.  That  religion  of  which  I 


858          THE   BIBLE    IN   THE    COUNTIXG-HOUSE. 

have  been  speaking,  as  indispensable  to  prepare  you 
for  "retiring"  from  all  sublunary  affairs,  is  not  a 
loose  garment,  to  be  caught  up  and  gathered  hur 
riedly  around  you  in  the  moment  of  your  dissolution. 
If  we  would  be  sustained  by  the  consolations  of  the 
Bible  in  death,  we  must  live  by  its  precepts.  And, 
in  particular,  as  regards  yourselves,  its  paramount 
authority  must  be  recognized  in  all  the  departments 
of  commerce,  and  the  settled  feeling  of  the  trading 
classes  must  be  —  "  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel 
of  Christ."  Business  is  not  to  be  prosecuted  for  its 
own  sake.  Commerce  is  one  of  GOD'S  agencies  for 
governing  and  blessing  the  world.  Its  silver  and 
gold,  its  mills  and  factories,  its  canals  and  railways, 
its  fleets  and  cities,  are  all  His.  The  multitudinous 
tribes  of  human  beings  occupied  in  its  various  callings, 
"live  and  move  and  have  their  being  in  Him.'"  The 
allegiance  they  owe  Him,  comprehends  all  their  pow 
ers,  property,  plans,  time,  influence.  The  just  requi 
sition  He  lays  upon  them,  is,  that  they  make  His 
glory  the  ultimate  end  of  their  lives ;  that  they  regu 
late  their  conduct  by  His  Word ;  and  that  they  carry 
the  spirit  of  genuine  piety  into  all  their  transactions. 
What  less  could  He  require  ?  What  other  code  would 
comport  with  our  relations  to  Him  and  to  our  fellow- 
creatures  ?  What  other  principles  would  consist  with 
our  own  happiness?  These  elements  are  the  only 


ATHEISTIC   TENDENCIES.  359 

proper  corrective  to  the  debasing  effects  of  commerce. 
Dignified  and  controlled  by  religious  principle,  it  is 
one  of  the  most  beneficent  institutions  which  adorn 
the  globe.  But  divorced  from  this  alliance,  it  is  sur 
charged  with  mischief.  The  majestic  tides  which 
sweep  through  its  crowded  thoroughfares,  bear  men 
away  from  God.  The  constant  tendency  is  to  nourish 
their  inferior  appetites,  to  make  them  set  an  inordi 
nate  value  upon  money  and  the  objects  money  will 
procure,  to  impair  their  reverence  for  the  Deity,  to 
weaken  their  sense  of  moral  responsibility,  to  blunt 
their  consciences  against  the  reproofs  of  Scripture, 
and,  in  a  word,  to  shut  out  eternity  from  their  thoughts 
and  degrade  them  into  practical  Atheists.  No  human 
power  or  skill  can  cope  with  this  evil.  The  current 
will  overwhelm  your  dykes,  as  the  ocean  does  the 
puny  structures  of  children  on  the  strand. 

"  The  STILL  SMALL  VOICE  is  wanted.     He  must  speak, 
Whose  word  leaps  forth  at  once  to  its  effect ; 
Who  calls  for  things  that  are  not,  and  they  come." 

He  has  spoken.  And  his  word,  lodged  in  the  heart, 
raises  the  only  successful  barrier  against  the  encroach 
ments  of  the  monopolising  trade-spirit.  Let  it,  then, 
have  free  course.  In  theory  at  least,  we  have  a  prin 
ciple  in  religion,  the  principle  of  faith,  which  can 
master  the  strongest  passions  of  the  human  breast. 
It  has  mastered  them  all  —  fear,  love,  revenge,  lust, 


360          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

pride,  avarice,  have  yielded  to  it  in  instances  without 
number.  Its  benign  influence  is  felt  in  all  the  great 
centres  of  commerce.  And  there  are  firms  in  every 
city  which  might  be  cited  as  most  honourably  exem 
plifying  its  benign  results,  when  admitted  to  its  legiti 
mate  place  in  a  business-life.  But  these  are  the 
exceptions.  The  Bible  is  only  beginning  to  make  its 
way  into  the  Counting-House.  Many  who  imagine 
themselves  to  be  quite  ready  for  it,  who  even  suppose 
they  have  long  ago  received  it,  have  a  very  crude 
conception  of  what  this  involves.  They  think  simply 
of  conducting  their  establishments  with  integrity, 
avoiding  every  approach  to  deception  and  falsehood, 
requiring  all  their  subordinates  to  be  truthful  and 
courteous,  fulfilling  their  engagements  with  scrupulous 
fidelity,  and  shunning  all  collateral  speculations.  This 
is  well,  very  well,  as  far  as  it  goes.  But  if  they  pause 
here,  the  Bible  is  not  yet  "enthroned"  in  their  count 
ing-rooms.  Nothing  will  satisfy  it  but  an  earnest, 
aggressive  Christianity,  which  shall  be  ever  intent 
upon  doing  good,  to  the  utmost  measure  of  its  capa 
city.  It  is  as  much  the  law  of  the  "true  riches"  to 
diffuse  themselves,  as  it  is  of  cupidity  to  hoard.  And 
the  more  a  merchant  possesses  of  this  incorruptible 
wealth,  the  more  he  will  be  inclined  to  share  it  with 
others.  The  opportunities  for  this,  in  an  extensive 
business,  are  equally  varied  and  important. 


A   FIELD,    WHITE   TO   THE    HARVEST.  361 

To  revert,  for  example,  to  a  topic  formerly  dis 
cussed  —  you  have,  in  each  of  your  great  establish 
ments,  a  numerous  tenantry,  sustaining  to  you  a 
relation  analogous  to  that  of  your  own  families ; 
constituting,  in  fact,  a  second  household.  Your  Bible 
will  remind  you  that  this  is  the  ordering  of  Provi 
dence.  In  the  successive  steps  which  have  conducted 
you  to  your  present  position,  you  may  have  been 
chiefly  influenced  by  selfish  motives.  But  an  invisible 
hand  has  led  you  on,  until  you  find  yourself  the  centre 
of  a  little  community,  who  are  your  daily  and  inti 
mate  companions,  who  go  and  come  at  your  bidding, 
and  whose  exertions  are  contributing  to  your  wealth. 
As  a  Christian  man,  you  will  not  fail  to  ask,  "  Why 
is  this  ?  For  what  end  has  Providence  committed  this 
large  and  growing  business  to  my  hands,  and  gathered 
around  me  this  group  of  Young  Men  ?  How  is  it 
that  one  youth  from  Tennessee,  another  from  Ken 
tucky,  a  third  from  Ohio,  a  fourth  from  Missouri,  a 
salesman  from  Virginia,  a  book-keeper  from  Mary 
land,  have  all  been  guided  to  my  counting-house  and 
confided  to  my  tutelage?"  These  are  grave  and 
interesting  questions.  The  longer  you  ponder  them, 
the  more  you  will  be  disposed  to  say,  "  This  is  the 
finger  of  God  !  "  And  the  less  will  you  be  disposed 
to  decline  the  mission  to  which  the  dispensation  so 
obviously  calls  you.  A  base  cupidity  might  thrust  it 
31 


362          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

upon  you  as  the  one  predominant  and  daily  inquest, 
"  How  can  I  turn  the  services  of  these  clerks  to  the 
best  advantage,  and  make  the  most  money  out  of 
them?  "  But  your  inquiry  will  rather  be,  "  How  can 
I  do  the  most  good  to  these  young  men?"  It  is, 
certainly,  a  noble  field  of  usefulness  which  God  has 
opened  to  you ;  and  if  you  cultivate  it  as  you  ought, 
you  will  not  regret  your  fidelity,  when  you  come  to 
see  the  sheaves  gathered  into  the  garner.  How  you 
are  to  do  this,  must  be  left  to  your  own  enlightened 
discretion.  With  a  clear  impression  of  your  obliga 
tions  and  an  abiding  sense  of  the  love  of  Christ,  you 
will  not  be  at  a  loss  for  means  and  occasions  to  com 
mend  religion  to  them.  Whatever  agency  you  may 
employ,  a  consistent  example  must  be  combined  with 
it ;  for  young  men  are  shrewd  observers,  and  disposed, 
beyond  any  other  class  in  society,  to  insist  upon  a 
rigid  congruity  between  profession  and  practice.  But 
a  really  consistent  example  will  rarely  be  alone.  The 
spirit  which  insures  that,  will  prompt  you  to  kind  and 
judicious  efforts,  as  occasion  may  offer,  to  bring  the 
claims  of  religion  before  their  minds ;  and  efforts  of 
this  sort  rarely  fail  of  a  blessing  in  the  end. 

If  the  inmates  of  a  commercial  house  have  a 
peculiar  claim  upon  the  Christian  sympathies  of  its 
principals,  it  is  not  an  exclusive  claim.  Your  pro 
fession  introduces  you  to  a  great  variety  of  persons, 


PHILANTHROPY   AT   LARGE.  363 

many  of  whom  it  might  be  possible  to  reach  with  a 
wholesome  moral  influence.  We  are  apt  to  disparage 
and  neglect  familiar  and  incidental  opportunities  of 
doing  good.  Great  occasions  we  can  improve :  they 
have  a  palpable  shape  and  magnitude :  we  know  how 
to  lay  hold  of  them :  and  they  seem  worthy  of  our 
care.  But  the  opportunities  which  occur  in  the  ordi 
nary  routine  of  life,  in  buying  and  selling,  and  in  the 
trivialties  of  social  intercourse,  are  allowed  to  glide 
away  while  we  are  considering  whether  it  is  worth 
our  while  to  improve  them.  —  There  has  always  been 
a  class  of  reformers  in  the  world,  whose  philanthropy 
confines  itself  to  grand  achievements.  They  are  hap 
pily  hit  off  by  Mrs.  More  in  her  "History  of  Mr. 
Fantom,"  a  London  tradesman,  who  turned  philoso 
pher,  and  set  about  rectifying  the  world  at  large,  with 
a  zeal  that  left  him  no  heart  for  cases  of  individual 
suffering.  He  would  "  alter  all  the  laws,  and  do 
away  all  the  religions,  and  put  an  end  to  all  the  wars 
in  the  world."  He  would  "abolish  all  punishments, 
and  not  leave  a  single  prisoner  on  the  face  of  the 
globe."  But  when  applied  to  by  a  benevolent  neigh 
bour  to  contribute  a  trifle  towards  liberating  an  unfor 
tunate  debtor  from  prison,  he  "  had  no  attention  to 
spare  to  that  business,  though  he  would  pledge  him 
self  to  produce  a  plan  by  which  the  national  debt 
might  be  paid  off  in  six  months."  When  asked  to 


364          THE    BIBLE   IN   THE    COUXTIXQ-IIO.USE. 

co-operate  in  bringing  a  tyrannical  workhouse-keeper 
to  punishment,  he  excused  himself  on  the  ground, 
that  "  the  wrongs  of  the  Poles  and  the  South  Ameri 
cans  so  filled  his  mind,  as  to  leave  him  no  time  to 
attend  to  such  petty  grievances."  A  poor  man's 
house  in  his  vicinity  having  taken  fire  and  burnt 
down,  he  justified  his  neglect  in  not  going  to  the 
help  of  the  sufferers,  by  alleging  that  he  was  just 
then  "  engaged  in  a  far  nobler  project  than  putting 
out  a  fire  in  a  little  thatched  cottage" — he  was 
"  contriving  a  scheme  to  extinguish  the  fires  of  the 
Inquisition  !  "  Mr.  Fantom  has  his  proper  archetype 
only  amongst  the  infidel  socialists  of  the  day ;  but 
in  the  feature  of  his  character  presented  in  these 
extracts,  he  may  stand  for  the  representative  of  many 
wiser  and  better  men.  Perhaps  we  are  all  too  much 
disposed  to  make  our  Christianity  a  matter,  if  not  of 
Sundays  and  sacraments,  at  least  of  times  and  seasons, 
and  still  more  of  systems  and  societies.  The  impera 
tive  demand  of  the  age,  is,  for  organized  benevolence, 
for  "  Institutions"  ;  and  it  is  a  demand  which  must 
be  met,  unless  the  Church  would  see  a  large  part 
even  of  the  territory  she  has  wrested  from  heresy 
and  barbarism  revert  to  its  former  masters.  But  we 
must  guard  against  the  subtle  feeling,  that  these  com 
bined  efforts  are  to  supersede  private  philanthropy ; 
that  our  contributions  to  Societies,  can  absolve  us 


CORPORATE   AND   PERSONAL   CHRISTIANITY.      365 

from  the  obligation  of  personal  exertion.  Better  to 
abolish  all  Societies,  than  that  they  should  absorb 
the  benevolence  of  the  Church,  and  become  the  sole 
medium  of  intercommunication  between  the  people  of 
God  and  a  perishing  world.  Christianity  will  not 
bear  to  be  swathed  and  splinted  up  in  this  fashion. 
You  will  either  crush  its  life  out,  and  leave  it  a  worth 
less  mummy ;  or  it  will  rend  your  compresses  asunder, 
and  reassert  its  inalienable  freedom.  It  is  cause  for 
thankfulness  that  we  can  do  good  by  proxy  in  so 
many  ways ;  but  it  would  soon  stifle  our  religion  to 
do  good  only  by  proxy.  It  will  never  do  to  remit  to 
Boards  and  Associations  the  exclusive  prerogative  of 
deciding  how,  and  when,  and  to  what  extent,  our 
Christianity  shall  go  forth  on  errands  of  mercy. 
This  were  scarcely  better  than  to  commit  the  whole 
business  of  our  salvation  to  a  priest.  Our  own  souls 
would  famish  under  this  vicarious  sort  of  piety.  It 
is  good  for  us  to  be  brought  into  contact  with  the 
errors  and  wants,  the  dangers  and  sufferings,  of 
humanity.  Our  SAVIOUR  did  this ;  the  apostles  did 
it ;  all  the  early  Christians  did  it ;  the  whole  genius 
of  the  New  Dispensation  presupposes  it.  The  very 
lowest  conception  of  the  Christian  system  which  can 
be  formed,  must  embrace,  as  one  of  its  radical  ele 
ments,  the  obligation  to  relieve  the  necessities  and 
contribute  to  the  well-being  of  others,  in  every 
31* 


366          THE    BIBLE    IN    THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

practicable  way.  And  any  wish  to  be  released  from 
this  obligation,  must  discredit  the  sincerity  of  the 
profession  with  which  it  is  allied. 

In  your  case,  it  is  not  "  suffering"  which  appeals 
to  you  in  the  ordinary  course  of  your  business ;  but 
there  must  be  many  persons  thrown  in  your  way 
whom  you  might  benefit  by  an  occasional  friendly 
word  or  kind  office  —  by  placing  a  Bible  in  their 
hands,  by  encouraging  them  to  a  due  observance  of 
the  Sabbath,  by  a  timely  caution  against  profaneness, 
drinking,  or  idle  habits,  by  manifesting  an  interest  in 
their  families.  Something,  too,  might  be  done  in  the 
way  of  reaching  your  customers.  The  Counting- 
House,  I  am  aware,  is  not  a  place  for  "preaching"; 
nor  is  there  anything  more  disgusting  than  that 
loquacious,  pharisaical  religion,  which  is  for  ever 
spreading  its  tawdry  plumage,  and  mixing  up  the 
most  sacred  themes  with  the  common  topics  of  busi 
ness.  But  there  seems  no  sufficient  reason  why  a 
Christian  merchant  should  meet  with  a  set  of  gentle 
men  from  different  parts  of  the  country,  year  after 
year,  without  opening  his  lips  to  them  on  the  most 
important  of  all  subjects;  still  less,  why  he  should 
permit  them,  season  by  season,  to  spend  one  or  more 
Sabbaths  in  the  city  without  tendering  them  the  hos 
pitalities  of  his  pew  in  the  house  of  God.  And  what 
hinders  but  that  our  opulent  importers  should  have 


SHIP-OWNERS    AND    SAILORS.  867 

an  eye  to  the  crews  of  their  ships,  and  try  to  do  some 
good  among  them?  This,  it  is  true,  is  "the  Cap 
tain's  charge."  But  it  is  your  office  to  select  your 
Captains,  and  to  decide  whether  your  vessels  shall  go 
to  sea  under  the  care  of  debauchees  and  tyrants,  or 
of  men  of  sound  morals  and  humane  tempers.  And 
it  were  not  unworthy  of  your  position  to  see  that 
their  sailors  are  supplied,  each  of  them,  with  a 
Bible ;  and  to  take  some  pains,  on  their  return  to 
port,  to  have  them  directed  to  proper  boarding-houses, 
and  told  where  they  might  find  a  mariners'  chapel  on 
a  Sunday. 

All  these  are,  properly  speaking,  professional  du 
ties :  they  come  in  your  way  as  Merchants,  and  you 
cannot  well  pretermit  them,  without  a  positive  repres 
sion  of  your  religious  instincts.  But  there  may  be 
scenes  and  objects  outside  of  your  beaten  thorough 
fares,  which  have  a  claim  upon  your  sympathy. 
Every  great  city  embraces  a  vast  amount  of  degra 
dation  and  wretchedness  —  heterogeneous  hordes  that 
are  but  a  step  removed  from  savage  life.  In 
close  agglomeration  with  its  wealth,  refinement,  and 
intelligence,  its  splendid  mansions  and  luxurious 
entertainments,  are  masses  of  ignorance,  poverty, 
vice,  and  suffering,  such  as  can  be  found  no  where 
else  within  the  verge  of  civilization.  Indeed,  the 
very  magnitude  of  the  evils  to  be  provided  for,  and 


368          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

the  frequency  with  which  examples  of  crime  and 
misery  pass  under  one's  notice  in  such  a  community, 
have  a  tendency  to  check  the  flow  of  benevolence. 
If  it  were  possible  to  take  up  a  small  section  of  one 
of  the  worst  courts  or  lanes  of  Philadelphia  or  New 
York,  and  transplant  it  with  its  miserable  tenantry 
in  their  rags  and  filth  arid  vices  and  sicknesses,  into 
some  quiet  rural  town  of  two  or  three  thousand  inha 
bitants,  it  would  become  at  once  the  paramount  object 
of  interest  there :  every  family  would  feel  concerned 
to  do  something  for  their  relief,  and  every  bosom 
would  thrill  with  emotions  of  pity  or  of  horror.  But 
we  can  pass  these  very  objects  on  the  side-walks  by 
scores,  without  noticing  them.  We  can  traverse  whole 
squares  lined  with  their  dwellings,  and  be  conscious 
only  of  some  transitory  feelings  of  sadness  and  dis 
gust  which  we  are  but  too  happy  to  throw  off  by 
hurrying  away  from  the  neighbourhood  as  fast  as 
possible.  Yet  these  are  our  fellow  -  mortals,  with 
minds  as  susceptible  of  cultivation,  and  souls  as 
precious,  as  our  own.  They  are  more  than  this: 
they  are  our  neighbours,  constituent  parts  of  the 
same  community  with  ourselves,  living  within  sight 
of  our  schools  and  sanctuaries,  and  therefore  com 
mitted,  in  -some  sort,  by  Providence,  to  our  guardian 
ship.  To  say  that  they  are  your  charge  specifically 
—  that  it  belongs  to  the  mercantile  body  to  look  after 


IIUMAXITY   ABOVE    MERCHANDIZE.  3G9 

all  the  vagrancy  and  depravity  of  the  cities  —  would 
be  very  unreasonable.  But  considering  that  these 
cities  are  essentially  commercial  in  their  character, 
that  they  owe  their  growth  and  opulence  and  power 
to  trade,  it  is  certainly  equitable  that  the  mercantile 
classes  should  assume  a  liberal  share  of  this  responsi 
bility.  In  any  event,  Christianity  requires  that  you 
should  bestow  upon  this  work  whatever  personal 
attention  and  labour  you  can  command ;  and  that 
the  abstruse  social  problems  forced  upon  us  by  these 
aspects  of  pauperism,  should  have  the  benefit  of  all 
the  experience  and  sagacity  you  can  bring  to  the 
solution  of  them.  It  will  not  answer  to  become  so 
engrossed  with  traffic  as  to  lose  sight  of  the  claims 
of  humanity ;  so  absorbed  with  questions  of  finance 
and  merchandize,  as  not  to  see  the  throngs  of  death 
less  and  accountable  beings  around  you,  who  are 
hastening  to  eternity  without  God  and  without  hope, 
and  preparing,  it  may  be,  to  confront  you  at  the  bar 
of  Christ,  for  your  neglect  of  their  souls.  What  is 
all  your  merchandize,  all  your  riches,  all  your  social 
influence,  compared  with  the  meanest  and  unwor- 
thiest  of  these  objects  !  There  is  not  a  vagrant  in 
the  vilest  haunt  of  the  vilest  vicinage  of  the  city, 
whose  salvation  would  not  be  worth  more  than  all 
the  ships  and  warehouses  of  our  metropolis,  nor 
whose  perdition,  a  more  terrible  catastrophe  than  the 


370          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

destruction  of  all  the  implements  and  ensigns  of  your 
commercial  greatness.  This  will  fall  upon  your  ears, 
doubtless,  as  a  trite  sentiment.  You  "  know  it 
already.  No  sane  man  would  think  of  proposing 
money,  or  diadems,  or  anything  earthly,  as  an  equi 
valent  for  the  soul."  But  while  every  one  "knows" 
this,  how  few  have  risen  to  the  point  of  treating  it  as 
a  reality  —  of  living  as  though  they  knew  it !  How 
rare  are  the  Counting-Houses  in  which  it  is  felt  with 
the  force  of  an  inwrought,  practical  conviction  !  Even 
those  in  your  ranks  who  are  most  fully  imbued  with 
the  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  must  be  painfully  conscious 
of  a  tendency  to  let  the  things  which  are  seen,  blind 
them  to  the  things  which  are  unseen  —  of  allowing 
business  to  blunt  their  spiritual  sensibilities,  and  chill 
their  zeal  in  seizing  upon  opportunities  of  usefulness. 
And  so  it  comes  to  pass,  that  while  Commerce  can  be 
charged  with  neither  indifference  nor  parsimony  in 
this  matter,  her  aggregate  efforts  in  behalf  of  the 
mendicancy  of  our  cities,  are  as  incommensurate 
with  her  resources,  as  they  are  with  the  evils  to  be 
removed.  What  she  lacks,  is,  THE  BIBLE  IN  HER 
COUNTING-ROOMS. 

The  great  lesson  I  have  wished  to  enforce  in  these 
discursive  remarks,  is,  that  we  should  live  to  do  good. 
We  are  not  to  confine  our  exertions  to  one  set  of 
objects,  nor  to  periodical  occasions,  but  be  always 


OUR   GREAT   EXEMPLAR.  871 

ready,   as  we    can   find   or   make    opportunities,   to 
minister  to  the  well-being  of  our  fellow-creatures  or 
to  the  prosperity  of  religion.     It  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  pictures  the  inspired  writers  have  given  us 
of  the  Founder  of  our  holy  religion  —  a  biography 
in   a   single   sentence  —  "HE   WENT   ABOUT    DOING 
GOOD."     And  if  we  would  approve  ourselves  to  be 
His  disciples,  we  must  cherish  His  spirit  and  tread 
in  His  steps.     There  is  no  incompatibility  between 
the  two  great  classes  of  interests  which  solicit  our 
benevolence,  the  physical  and  the  spiritual,  the  neces 
sities  of  the  poor  and  the  salvation  of  souls.     "  Expe 
rience  demonstrates  that  the  heart  which  responds  to 
the  cries  of  a  world  perishing  through  lack  of  know 
ledge,  is  the  heart  which  most  readily  thrills  at  the 
cry  of  bodily  want ;  that  those  who  care  most  for  the 
souls  of  the  heathen,  are  among  the  most  active  agents 
of  patriotic  and  local  charities ;  that  genuine  Christian 
charity,  while  it  leaves  no  object  unattempted  on 
account  of  its  vastness,  overlooks  none  on  account  of 
its  minuteness.    Copying,  in  this  respect,  the  example 
of  Him  who,  in  his  way  to  the  cross  to  save  a  world, 
often  stood  still  to  give  health  to  the  sick,  and  to  wipe 
away  the  tears  of  the  mourner ;  sowing,  at  each  step, 
the  seeds  of  those  various  institutions  of  mercy,  which 
are  still  springing  up  in  his  church ;  and  who,  while 
suspended  on  the  cross  in  the  crisis  of  human  redemp- 


872          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

tion,  still  thought  of  his  filial  relation,  and  tenderjy 
provided  for  a  mother's  comfort."  * 

Imbued  with  this  spirit,  you  will  find  a  genuine 
satisfaction  in  performing  those  philanthropic  offices 
upon  which  the  Saviour  has,  both  by  precept  and 
example,  impressed  so  high  a  value.  And  the  same 
feeling  which  sends  you  forth  upon  these  ministra 
tions  among  the  poor,  will  lead  you  to  write  "  Holi 
ness  to  the  Lord,"  upon  your  PROPERTY.  There  is 
no  lesson  which  the  Church  is  slower  to  learn,  than 
the  true  doctrine  on  this  subject;  no  duties  which 
the  mass  of  Christians  are  more  backward  in  dis 
charging,  than  those  involved  in  the  scriptural  idea 
of  stewardship.  I  have  dwelt  too  much  in  these  Lec 
tures  on  the  sin  and  danger  of  covetousness,  to  war 
rant  me  in  expatiating  on  that  topic  here.  And  yet 
1  cannot  bring  the  Course  to  a  close,  without  again 
reminding  you,  that  God  has  committed  your  property 
to  you  in  trust  for  Him,  and  will  hold  you  to  a  strict 
responsibility  in  the  management  of  it.  There  are 
few  themes  of  higher  moment  to  you,  than  the  moral 
limits  of  accumulation,  and  the  true  use  of  riches ; 
and  you  will  be  brought  to  one  or  another  conclusion 
on  these  points,  according  as  you  examine  them  by 
the  current  maxims  of  commerce,  or  by  the  infallible 
utterances  of  revelation.  If  you  are  willing  to  rely 

*  Harris. 


EVANGELICAL   MOTIVES.  373 

upon  the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  it  will  not  prescribe 
the  precise  arithmetical  proportion  of  your  gains  which 
shall  be  set  apart  to  religion.  Discarding  this  prin 
ciple  of  the  old  economy,  it  will  reveal  to  you,  rather, 
the  character  of  the  DEITY,  in  the  plenitude  of  its 
matchless  perfections,  as  the  only  rightful  and  ade 
quate  object  of  your  homage.  It  will  unveil  to  you 
that  munificent  Providence  which  has  watched  over 
you  through  life,  defended  you  in  danger,  healed 
you  when  sick,  extricated  you  from  embarrassments, 
retrieved  your  losses,  crowned  your  business  with 
success,  gathered  around  you  the  endearments  of 
your  cherished  homes,  and  bestowed  upon  you  the 
institutions  and  ordinances  of  a  pure  Christianity. 
Above  all,  it  will  take  you  to  the  CROSS,  and  bid  you 
look  upon  that  wonder  of  wonders,  the  SON  OF  GOD 
bearing  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree,  and 
dying  an  accursed  death  that  we  might  live.  It  will 
show  you  how,  for  His  sake,  your  iniquities  have 
been  blotted  out,  and  your  hearts  renewed.  It  will 
remind  you  of  the  long-suffering  and  patience  of  your 
Heavenly  Father  in  bearing  with  your  provocations ; 
of  His  faithfulness  in  reproving  your  errors,  and  His 
tenderness  in  recovering  you  from  your  falls ;  of  the 
fortitude  with  which  he  has  nerved  you  to  bear 
reverses,  and  the  consolations  with  which  he  has 
assuaged  your  sorrows.  It  will  conduct  you  to  tho 
32 


374          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

verge  of  the  fathomless  abyss,  and  to  the  borders  of 
the  land  of  promise,  and  afford  you  some  transient 
glimpses  of  the  unutterable  misery  you  have  escaped, 
and  the  everlasting  glories  in  reserve  for  you.  And 
having  done  all  this,  it  will  leave  it  to  your  own 
grateful  and  adoring  hearts,  to  answer  the  question, 
"How  much  owest  tJiou  unto  my  Lord?"  This  is 
the  spirit  of  the  New  Dispensation ;  and  it  is  under 
the  pressure  of  motives  like  these,  you  are  to  decide 
what  proportion  of  your  revenues  shall  be  laid  at  the 
Saviour's  feet.  He  needs,  as  He  has  a  claim  to,  the 
utmost  resources  you  can  bring  to  his  support.  The 
contest  He  is  waging  with  the  powers  of  darkness, 
He  might  terminate  by  an  exertion  of  his  omnipo 
tence  ;  or  He  might  commit  the  prosecution  of  it  exclu 
sively  to  His  angels.  But  as  our  globe  is  the  theatre 
on  which  it  is  waged,  and  the  soul  of  man  its  object, 
He  has  chosen  to  employ  our  unworthy  agency  in 
carrying  it  forward.  And  the  question  for  you  to 
decide,  is,  how  far  your  obligations  to  the  Redeemer 
require  you  to  go,  in  assisting  Him  in  this  conflict 
with  His  and  our  enemies.  By  what  form  of  per 
sonal  service,  by  what  measure  of  pecuniary  contri 
bution,  are  you  called  upon  to  attest  your  loyalty  to 
Christ  and  your  sympathy  for  a  perishing  world? 

There  are  no  ends  to  which  money  can  be  applied, 
so  honourable  and  so  beneficent  as  these.     The  uni- 


FREELY   YE   HAVE   RECEIVED,    FREELY   GIVE.    375 

versal  spread  of  the  Gospel,  is  an  object  impressed 
with  true  moral  sublimity,  and  fraught  with  blessings 
for  our  race,  surpassing  all  the  visions  of  poetry.  It 
will  be  a  greater  distinction  at  the  last  day  to  have 
borne  even  the  humblest  part  in  promoting  it,  than 
it  will  to  have  owned  a  province  or  wielded  a  sceptre. 
And,  other  considerations  aside,  it  is  every  way  worthy 
of  the  dignity  and  the  opulence  of  Commerce,  that 
she  should  repay,  in  a  measure,  the  manifold  obliga 
tions  she  owes  to  Christianity,  by  dedicating  her  exu 
berant  resources  to  this  work.  It  is  meet  that  the 
merchant-princes  of  our  land  and  of  other  lands, 
should  identify  themselves  with  those  great  Institu 
tions  which  are  engaged  in  evangelizing  the  nations. 
To  a  certain  extent,  you  have  done  this.  But  it 
would  be  trifling  with  your  intelligence,  to  suppose 
that  you  regard  the  prevailing  spirit  of  Christian 
liberality  in  business  circles,  as  fully  up  to  the  Scrip 
ture  standard.  Allowing  for  numerous  exceptions, 
the  disposition  is,  to  appropriate  to  religion,  simply 
the  crumbs  which  fall  from  overloaded  tables  ;  to  give 
the  pounds  to  earth,  and  the  farthings  to  heaven ; 
to  lay  up  imperial  fortunes  for  children,  and  put  off 
with  a  pittance  the  millions  who  are  clamouring  for 
the  bread  of  life.  To  complain  that  there  are  no 
sacrifices  made  for  the  Gospel's  sake,  would,  in  this 
connexion,  seem  scarcely  serious  —  so  far  away  from 


376          THE  BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

the  actualities  of  the  case,  is  anything  approximating 
to  a  "  sacrifice."  We  need  not  even,  at  this  point, 
speak  of  retrenching  superfluities.  The  reigning  type 
of  benevolence  may  be  carried  up  many  degrees  with 
out  molesting  "superfluities."  In  truth,  the  very 
foundations  are  out  of  joint.  The  elementary  prin 
ciples  of  Christian  stewardship  are  not  recognized. 
Let  these  be  once  lodged  in  the  great  heart  of  Com 
merce,  and  energized  by  a  baptism  of  the  Spirit,  arid 
there  would  be  no  occasion  to  go  among  the  merchants 
to  solicit  funds :  the  silver  and  the  gold  would  flow 
into  the  Lord's  treasury  as  did  the  offerings  of  the 
Hebrews  for  the  building  of  the  tabernacle,  until  His 
servants  might  be  obliged,  with  Moses,  to  bid  the 
people  desist. 

But  the  Christian  casuist  who  propagates  senti 
ments  like  these,  is  certain  to  have  a  text  of  Scripture 
thrust  at  him  from  some  quarter,  to  admonish  him 
that  "if  any  provide  not  for  his  own,  and  specially 
for  those  of  his  own  house,  he  hath  denied  the  faith, 
and  is  worse  than  an  infidel."  It  is  a  wholesome 
sign  that  there  should  prevail,  in  any  community,  a 
horror  of  being  classed  with  "  infidels."  But  it  must 
be  deemed  a  little  curious,  that  nothing  in  nature  or 
in  art  should  excite  this  emotion  to  such  a  pitch,  as  a 
subscription -paper  or  a  collection -box.  There  are 
many  men  to  whom  skepticism  never  appears  so 


SUBTLETY    OF   AVARICE.  877 

atrocious,  as  when  they  are  approached  for  means  to 
drive  skepticism  out  of  the  world.  Nor  will  any  other 
incident  stir  them  up  to  such  paroxysms  of  parental 
affection,  or  make  them  so  resolute  in  the  purpose  of 
"providing  for  their  own."  Let  us  not  quarrel  with 
this  feeling.  The  Bible  is  friendly  to  all  the  domestic 
sympathies ;  and  the  tighter  the  bonds  of  household 
love  are  drawn,  the  better.  But  there  is  still  some 
thing  to  be  said  on  the  subject  mentioned  in  this 
much-abused  admonition  of  the  apostle. 

It  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  insidious  nature 
of  avarice,  that  not  one  rich  man  in  a  hundred,  per 
haps  not  one  in  a  thousand,  is  disposed  to  stop 
hoarding.  The  point  of  acquisition  which  constitutes 
"wealth,"  is  pushed  along  as  men  approach  it;  so 
that  the  amount  of  property  which,  at  setting  out  in 
business,  supplied  their  definition  of  "  opulence,"  and 
at  which  they  meant  to  forbear  further  accumulation, 
comes,  in  time,  to  dwindle  into  a  paltry  "  competence," 
with  which  "no  one  ought  to  be  satisfied."  A  simple 
change  in  the  definition  keeps  conscience  quiet,  and 
allows  the  beguiling  process  to  go  on.  The  more 
they  get,  the  more  they  want.  And  even  when  an 
estate  has  swelled  to  colossal  proportions,  the  idea  of 
arresting  its  growth,  or  of  giving  away  a  generous 
part  of  the  revenue  it  yields,  is  almost  as  painful  as 
that  of  losing  a  child.  Singularly  enough,  this 
32* 


378          THE   BIBLE    IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

morbid  tenacity  of  income  prevails  where  there  is  a 
distinct  purpose  of  making  a  posthumous  appropria 
tion  of  large  sums  to  charitable  uses.  The  Will  is 
already  drawn  up  to  this  effect,  and  duly  signed  and 
sealed ;  but  the  Testator,  entranced  by  the  mysteri 
ous  power  of  gold,  cannot  summon  the  resolution  to 
become  his  own  Executor.  He  has  seen  many  a  Will 
broken,  and  many  an  inheritance  alienated  from  its 
proper  destination ;  and  he  knows  this  may  happen 
in  his  own  case  also.  But,  again,  "  it  may  not  hap 
pen"  ;  and  he  will  run  the  hazard.  If  it  were  not 
for  the  spell  which  is  upon  him,  the  pleasure  of  apply 
ing  his  bounty  and  witnessing  the  benign  effects  of  it, 
would  outweigh  the  sordid  satisfaction  he  derives  from 
seeing  his  huge  heap  of  gold  dust  growing  larger  and 
larger.  But  the  hallucination  cannot  be  thrown  off: 
the  glittering  treasure  will  assert  its  mastery  against 
any  rival  power  except  the  universal  Conqueror.  — 
Or,  he  is,  possibly,  one  who  is  guiltless  even  of  any 
prospective  benefactions.  His  sole  aim  is,  to  "  pro 
vide  for  his  own"  ;  to  go  on  turning  revenue  into 
capital  as  long  as  life  lasts,  that  when  his  eyes  are 
closed  in  death,  his  mammoth  estate  may  descend  to 
his  heirs  unimpaired. 

I  shall  not  be  suspected  of  deprecating  the  accu 
mulation  of  property  even  up  to  the  most  generous 
limits,  or  of  discouraging  a  becoming  foresight  and 


THE    OBLIGATIONS    OF    PRO] '" RTY.  379 

liberality  on  the  part  of  parents  towards  their  fami 
lies,  if  I  ask  you  to  consider  how  irrational  all  this 
conduct  is,  and  how  incompatible  with  the  precepts 
of  the  Bible.  Assuredly,  it  proceeds  upon  a  most 
mistaken  theory  of  the  proper  uses  of  wealth,  and  a 
practical  denial  of  the  Scripture  doctrine  of  steward 
ship.  To  argue  these  points,  would  imply  that  the 
arbitrators  of  the  cause  were  themselves  under  the 
sway  of  the  same  enchantment  upon  which  they  were 
called  to  pronounce  judgment.  But  the  facts  may  be 
employed  to  caution  you  against  the  wiles  of  this 
imperious  passion,  and  to  impress  upon  your  minds 
the  importance  of  administering  your  affairs,  on  the 
wise  and  safe  principles  of  Christian  duty.  Property 
is  as  much  a  trust,  as  intellect  or  learning,  and  is 
equally  to  be  consecrated  to  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  good  of  man.  One  of  the  prime  questions  con 
nected  with  it,  is  that  referred  to  by  the  apostle  in 
the  verse  which  has  been  quoted — providing  for  one's 
household :  and  this  must  be  adjusted,  neither  under 
the  impulse  of  blind  affection,  nor  at  the  bidding  of 
pride  and  cupidity ;  but  with  an  earnest  and  prayerful 
desire  to  know  the  will  of  God,  and  a  faithful  use  of 
all  the  helps  He  may  proffer  us  in  ascertaining  His 
will.  It  would  be  very  unwarrantable  to  say  that  an 
overgrown  estate .  ought  never  to  be  bequeathed  to  a 
child :  such  a  step  might  be  demanded  as  a  simple 


380          THE   BIBLE    IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

act  of  justice,  or  ratified  by  an  enlightened  piety  on 
grounds  of  expediency.  But  as  a  general  rule,  expe 
rience  and  observation  combine  to  discourage  this 
practice.  The  course  of  things  perpetually  going  on 
in  this  country,  and  which  nothing  but  the  re-enact 
ment  of  the  laws  of  primogeniture  could  arrest,  is  for 
one  generation  to  collect  a  fortune,  and  the  next  (one 
or  two)  to  disperse  it.  Where  are  the  estates  of  the 
leading  Philadelphia,  New  York,  and  Boston  mer 
chants,  who  died  half  a  century  ago?  Gather  up 
the  fragments,  if  you  can  find  them,  in  the  hands  of 
their  children  and  grandchildren  ;  and  see  what  there 
is  to  show  for  all  the  planning,  and  toiling,  and  saving, 
those  fortunes  cost !  You  have  but  to  look  around 
our  own  city,  to  see  even  contemporaneous  patrimo 
nies  melting  away  like  a  March  snow,  almost  before 
the  mansions  once  tenanted  by  their  frugal  owners 
have  put  off  their  crape.  Whether  this  parental 
munificence  is  commonly  requited  with  a  correspond 
ing  gratitude,  and  men  are  held  in  filial  honour  in 
proportion  to  the  ingots  they  leave,  and  the  time  and 
pains  they  have  taken  to  fabricate  them,  each  one 
must  decide  for  himself.  But  if  it  entered  at  all  into 
the  aims  of  these  parties  to  establish  a  reputation 
which  their  fellow-citizens,  or  even  their  own  descen 
dants,  should  cherish  as  a  sacred  legacy,  a  very 
brief  return  to  the  scene  of  their  former  toils,  would 


A   MAN   TO   BE   REMEMBERED.  381 

probably  satisfy  some  of  them,  that  they  had  sadly 
mistaken  the  means  for  compassing  their  end.  There 
are  men  who  have  judged  more  wisely.  The  grave 
has  lately  closed  upon  one  of  this  class  in  an  Eastern 
city.  A  venerable  and  successful  merchant,  he  had 
for  many  years  before  his  death,  left  off  accumulating, 
and  made  it  his  inflexible  rule  to  give  away  the  whole 
of  his  large  surplus  income.  Now  he  was  endowing 
a  college  Professorship  ;  now  founding  an  Academy ; 
now  bestowing  a  princely  benefaction  upon  some 
judicious  Charity ;  and  now  another  upon  some  noble 
religious  enterprise.  One  of  his  favourite  methods 
of  doing  good,  was  to  purchase,  and  put  in  circula 
tion,  hundreds  of  copies,  or  perhaps  whole  editions, 
of  any  useful  book  which  happened  to  commend  itself 
to  his  taste  and  judgment.  And  after  his  death,  a 
memorandum  among  his  papers  was  found  to  contain 
the  names  of  a  large  number  of  village  pastors,  whose 
scanty  stipends  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  supple 
menting  from  year  to  year.  These  are  but  hints  and 
samples  of  his  life  :  but  they  may  suffice  to  show  that 
he  was  not  a  man  to  be  forgotten.  It  is  something 
for  a  private  citizen  so  to  live  that  when  he  dies,  the 
whole  community  to  wilieh  he  belonged,  and  other 
distant  communities  vying  with  them,  shall  take  up 
his  name  and  breathe  a  blessing  upon  it.  It  is  for 
yourselves,  under  Providence,  to  decide  (I  speak 


382          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

especially  to  the  wealthy  among  you),  whether  your 
memories  shall  be  thus  embalmed,  or  handed  over  to 
a  speedy  oblivion.  And  in  making  this  observation, 
I  am  far  from  commending  it  to  you  as  a  becoming 
object  of  your  ambition,  to  purchase  a  posthumous 
fame  by  your  charities.  I  have  in  view  simply  the 
ordinance  of  heaven,  that  "the  righteous  shall  be 
held  in  everlasting  remembrance."  "The  memory 
of  the  just"  (and  this  epithet  includes  the  idea  of 
benevolence)  "  is  blessed."  Whether  you  take  the 
case  of  a  secluded  female,  who  employs  her  leisure 
hours,  like  Dorcas,  in  making  coats  and  garments  for 
the  poor,  or  the  faithful  missionary,  who  wears  him 
self  out  in  distributing  the  bread  of  life  along  the 
lanes  and  alleys  of  a  city,  or  the  paternal  landlord, 
who,  like  the  "Man  of  jRoss,"  puts  the  impress  of 
his  kindness  upon  all  the  homes  of  his  neighbourhood, 
and  associates  his  name  with  every  measure  which 
can  augment  the  common  comfort,  or  the  generous 
capitalist  whose  benefactions  are  a  sure  reliance  to 
the  great  religious  charities  of  his  age  —  it  is  alike 
the  ordering  of  Providence,  that  their  memories  shall 
be  blessed.  You  may  not  aim  at  this  result.  Your 
humility  may  shrink  from  the  thought  of  having  your 
names  .repeated  from  one  to  another,  even  by  friendly 
and  grateful  lips.  But  you  cannot  well  avoid  this, 
if  you  are  faithful  to  your  trust,  and  employ  your 


BENEVOLENCE  AND  SELFISHNESS — REWARDED.    383 

property,  or  a  reasonable  portion  of  it,  in  doing  good. 
Sooner  or  later,  many  will  "  rise  up  and  call  you 
blessed."  It  is  meet  that  it  should  be  so.  And  the 
marvel  is,  that  you  do  not  all  perceive  how  superior 
in  dignity  and  worth,  in  honour  and  influence,  is  a 
scheme  of  life  regulated  by  these  principles,  to  one 
which  looks  only,  or  mainly,  to  indefinite  accumula 
tion.  You  must  perceive  it.  It  is  forced  upon  you 
in  the  current  intercourse  of  society.  It  is  impossible 
not  to  observe  the  widely  different  positions  occupied, 
respectively,  by  individuals  belonging  to  the  two 
classes  of  which  we  are  speaking.  They  may  be 
equal  in  intelligence,  social  standing,  and  wealth ; 
but  there  is  no  equality  in  the  general  respect  and 
esteem,  accorded  to  them.  No  right-minded  commu 
nity  will  admit  a  purely  selfish  person,  one  who  lives 
for  himself  and  his  own  exclusively,  to  the  confidence 
and  gratitude  they  bestow  upon  a  man  who  shows 
himself  a  lover  of  his  kind,  and  a  ready  helper  where 
there  is  any  good  to  be  done.  They  have,  each  of 
them,  their  reward ;  and  the  rewards  are,  very  pro 
perly,  as  unlike  as  their  characters.  These  are  facts 
as  patent  as  the  sun  at  noon-day.  They  run  all 
through  the  annals  of  every  city.  They  meet  us  as 
we  pass  along  the  streets.  They  find  quiet  but  sig 
nificant  utterance  at  many  a  funeral.  And  if  tomb 
stones  would  speak  the  truth,  the  cemeteries  would 
fairly  bristle  with  them. 


884          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

Why,  then,  are  they  not  more  operative  in  society.? 
How  is  it,  that  Commerce  is  still  so  much  under  the 
sway  of  selfishness?  that  there  are  so  few  in  any 
walk  of  life,  who  have  learned  the  true  use  of  money  ? 
Let  those  who  ask  these  questions,  ponder  them. 
They  are  not  to  be  answered  in  a  breath.  To  do 
justice  to  them,  we  must  go  back  to  the  fountain  of 
corruption  in  the  human  heart.  We  must  dissect  our 
school-books.  We  must  analyze  our  systems  of 
domestic  training.  We  must  inquire  into  the  maxims 
and  usages  which  determine  the  proper  place  of 
wealth  in  the  social  economy.  We  must  weigh  the 
course  of  our  legislation  and  our  jurisprudence.  We 
must  gauge  the  tone  of  the  popular  press.  We  must 
revise  the  teachings  of  the  pulpit.  We  must  ascer 
tain  whether  the  prevalent  Christianity  of  the  Church, 
is  in  all  things  coincident  with  the  Christianity  of  the 
New  Testament.  —  Let  these  sources  of  information 
be  explored,  and  some  light  will  be  thrown  upon  the 
problems  we  have  to  cope  with.  This  office  I  cannot 
enter  upon.  I  have  detained  you  too  long  already. 
But  whatever  may  be  the  secondary  causes  which  have 
invested  the  love  of  money  with  so  fatal  an  ascen 
dancy  in  our  country,  there  is  but  one  effective  anti 
dote  for  it.  The  sorcery  of  wealth  can  be  dissolved 
only  by  the  BLOOD  OF  THE  CROSS.  And  for  your 
selves  —  unless  you  are  prepared  to  barter  the 


THE  ONE  THING  NEEDFUL.         385 

"TRUE  ETCHES"  for  the  "mammon  of  unrighteous 
ness,"  that  disastrous  error  which  has  consigned  so 
many  Merchants  to  irretrievable  and  eternal  bank 
ruptcy,  you  must  admit  the  Gospel  of  Christ  to  its 
legitimate  supremacy  in  the  realm  of  Commerce,  and 
ENTHRONE  THE  BlBLE  IN  ALL  YOUR  COUNTING- 
HOUSES. 


33 


Kttiun  d 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  YOUNG  MEN 

ENGAGED    IN 

MERCANTILE   BUSINESS: 

A    DISCOURSE    OCCASIONED    BY    THE    DEATH    OF    MR.  ARCHIBALD 

SLOAN,  AT    THE    MERCHANTS'  HOTEL,  PHILADELPHIA, 

OCTOBER  9TH,    1851. 


(387) 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


PHILADELPHIA,  Nov.  1,  1851. 

Dear  Sir :  —  Having  listened,  "with  great  interest,  to  the  sermon 
you  delivered  on  Sunday  evening  last,  addressed  to  "the  Mercantile 
Classes,"  and  desiring  that  its  usefulness  may  be  extended,  by  afford 
ing  an  opportunity  for  its  perusal  to  the  community  at  large,  wo 
respectfully  request,  on  our  own  behalf  and  on  that  of  many  others 
who  heard  you,  that  you  will  furnish  us  with  a  copy  for  publication. 
With  much  respect,  your  obedient  servants, 

T.  G.   MOSS, 
W.    R.   CASON, 
G.    M.  PROCTER, 
H.    J.    SMITH. 

Rev.  Dr.  BOARDMAN. 

PHILADELPHIA,  Nov.  1st,  1851. 
To  the  Rev.  II.  A.  BOARDMAN,  D.  D. 

Dear  Sir :  —  The  undersigned  listened  with  great  satisfaction  to  the 
sermon  delivered  by  you  on  Sunday  evening  the  26th  ult.,  occasioned 
by  the  death  of  one  of  our  companions,  Mr.  ARCHIBALD  SLOAN,  and 
are  deeply  impressed  with  the  belief  that  its  publication  and  general 
circulation  would  be  productive  of  much  good  in  this  community,  more 
particularly  to  that  class  to  which  wo  belong,  and  to  whom  it  was 
especially  addressed.  With  that  view,  we  most  respectfully  ask  from 
you  the  manuscript  for  publication. 

FRANCIS    SQUIRE,  LAMBERT    THOMAS, 

W.    M.    F.    MAGRAW,  J.    ALLISON   EYSTER, 

ROBERT    A.    CRAWFORD,  ALEX.    T.    LANE, 

C.    C.    HAFFELFINGER,  H.    T.    MCVEIGH, 

E.    W.    DAVIDSON,  GEORGE    T.    HEATHER, 

JACOB    ZELLER,  SAML.    P.    DARLINGTON, 

(388) 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


389 


E.    C.    HUNTINGTON, 
C.    D.    RUSSELL, 
HENRY   C.    LAUGH  LIX, 
LOWEER    BURROWS, 
BENJAMIN    F.    GROVE, 
S.    H.    SMITH, 
HARRY   A.    GLEIM, 
GEO.    W.    WANAMAKER, 
JOS.    S.    BROWN, 
JOS.    WEBSTER, 
W.    M.    RECKLESS, 
JOHN    C.    RALSTON, 
J.    W.    WHITEMAN, 
FRANCIS   A.    FERRY, 
WM.    T.    DORTCH, 
JOHN   JORDAN, 
A.    EMSLIE    NEWBOLD, 
HUGH    T.    SCHETKY, 
WM.    J.    BARR, 
HENRY    LELAR,    JR. 
J.    M.    TAYLOR, 
H.    A.    LEAYITT, 
GEO.    S.    TOBES, 
W.    AUG'S    ANDREWS, 
WHARTON    GRIFFITTS, 
HARRY    STILES, 
WM.    H.    NICOLS, 
ALEX.    OMENSETTER, 
JAS.    W.    VEAZEY, 
JAMES    H.    COCHRANE, 
W.    N.    ASHMAN, 
FRANK    COOKMAN, 
ISAAC    W.    WEBB, 
RICIID.    PARKER, 
JOHN    B.    PENN, 
H.    D.    LAWRENCE, 
GEORGE    C.    BARBER, 

ALFRED 

83* 


J.  M.  CARSKADDEN, 

E.  S.  HOWELL, 
L.  LEAVITT, 

HUGH  B.  M'CAULEY, 
J.  H.  MEEHAN, 
DAVID  I.  HAUN, 
JAMES  W.  WROTH, 
EDMUND  B.  ORBISON, 
H.  HADDOCK, 
JAMES  W.  LINVILLE, 
WILLIAM  CHAFFEE, 

J.    W.    STOUT, 
SAML.    H.    STERETT, 
CHAS.    D.    HURLBUTT, 
WM.    P.    ROCKHILL, 
M.    JNO.    MOORE, 

A.  W.    NASH, 
GEO.    S.    SCOTT, 
C.    B.    SLAGLE, 
JOHN    C.    WEBER, 
SAML.    SPARHAWK, 
THOMPSON    RITCHIE, 
EDWIN    A.    MERRICK, 
J.    P.    BURROUGHS, 
GEO.    W.    GILL, 
JOHN    S.    WENNEK, 

F.  C.    POTTER, 

B.  A.    BUCK, 
WM.    F.    WILKINS, 

C.  W.    YARD, 

C.  W.    SYDNOR, 
SAML.    MILLIKEN,    JR. 
WM.    H.    GREGG, 

D.  M.    SWARR, 
C.    J.    SHOWER, 
DAVID    E.    OAK, 
WASHINGTON    DANNER, 

NESMITH. 


390  CORRESPONDENCE. 


PHILADELPHIA,  Nov.  Zd,  1851. 

Gentlemen  :  —  Having  been  led  by  the  lamented  death  of  Mr.  SLOAN 
to  reflect  on  the  position  and  relations  of  the  large  body  of  Young 
Men  in  our  commercial  houses,  the  unwelcome  conviction  was  forced 
upon  me,  that  our  Pastors  generally,  myself  included,  had  scarcely 
recognized  them  as  a  distinct  class  in  the  community,  much  less  put 
forth  any  suitable  efforts  for  their  welfare.  Under  the  influence  of  this 
feeling,  the  discourse  you  have  in  such  kind  terms  requested  for  pub 
lication,  was  written.  You  will  need  no  assurance  from  me  that  it 
was  prepared  without  the  slightest  reference  to  the  press;  but  I  do 
not  feel  that  this  is  a  sufficient  reason  for  withholding  it,  if,  as  you 
seem  to  suppose,  its  suggestions  are  adapted  to  be  useful  to  those  who 
listened  to  it  from  the  pulpit.  The  manuscript  is  herewith  placed  at 
your  disposal. 

I  am  very  truly  and  faithfully  yours, 

H.  A.  BOARDMAN. 
To  Messrs.  T.  G.  Moss, 

W.  R.  CASON, 

FRANCIS  SQUIRE, 

W.  M.  F.  MAGRAW,  and  others. 


A   FUNERAL   PAGEANT.  391 


SUGGESTIONS    TO    YOUNG   MEN   ENGAGED   IN   MERCAN 
TILE   BUSINESS. 


BUT  SEEK  YE  FIRST  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  AND  HIS  RIGHTE 
OUSNESS  ;  AND  ALL  THESE  THINGS  SHALL  BE  ADDED  UNTO 
TOU.  —  MATT.  TI.  33. 

FUNERAL  pageants  are  too  common  in  large  cities 
to  attract  notice,  unless  they  are  marked  by  some 
peculiar  circumstances.  About  two  weeks  since,  on 
a  mild  and  serene  afternoon,  a  procession  passed 
along  our  streets  to  a  cemetery  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  city,  which  did  for  the  time  bring  the  eager 
throng  in  the  thoroughfares  to  a  pause,  and  excite  at 
least  a  transient  feeling  of  interest.  It  was  a  train 
of  YOUNG  MEN  following  the  remains  of  a  friend  and 
companion  to  the  grave.  He  came  here  from  Ten 
nessee  three  or  four  years  ago,  as  a  clerk  in  an  emi 
nent  commercial  house.  His  integrity  and  capacity, 
his  fidelity  and  diligence,  his  modest  demeanour  and 


892         THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

generous  disposition,  secured  him  the  confidence  of 
his  employers,  the  cordial  esteem  of  his  associates, 
and  the  respect  of  all  who  met  with  him.  No  one 
will  be  found  to  gainsay  the  assertion  that  he  was  a 
general  favourite  ;  and  that  any  of  his  contemporaries 
may  esteem  themselves  happy,  who  are  as  much 
beloved  as  he  was.  He  retired  to  rest  of  a  Saturday 
night  in  his  usual  vigorous  health  —  his  athletic  form 
and  manly  countenance  betraying  no  indication  of 
the  insidious  foe  which  had  entrenched  itself  in  the 
very  citadel  of  life.  Before  the  morning  he  was 
seized  by  an  impetuous  and  unconquerable  malady, 
which,  after  four  brief  days  and  nights  of  dreadful 
suffering,  left  him  a  pallid  corpse.  All  that  medical 
skill  and  faithful  nursing  (such  nursing,  perhaps,  as 
is  rarely  enjoyed  in  a  great  hotel)  could  do,  was 
done  to  save  him.  If  sympathy  and  affection  could 
have  averted  the  blow,  the  kind  ministrations  and 
the  tears  of  the  young  men  who  were  constantly 
around  his  bed,  and  who  supplied,  as  well  as  might 
be,  the  place  of  relatives,  must  have  insured  a  reprieve. 
But  his  hour  had  come.  He  died  —  died  with  the 
flush  of  health  upon  his  cheek,  before  disease  had 
wasted  his  flesh,  and,  as  it  were,  in  the  fulness  of 
his  strength  —  as  a  noble  ship,  her  timbers  all  sound, 
her  spars  complete,  and  all  her  canvass  spread,  has 
sometimes  disappeared  suddenly  beneath  the  sea. 


THE   VOICE   OF   PROVIDENCE.  893 

The  startling  severity  of  the  blow  sent  a  thrill  through 
many  hearts.  A  large  concourse  of  his  companions, 
with  many  of  our  merchants,  assembled  to  do  honour 
to  his  remains ;  and  as  the  sad  cortege  passed  on  with 
a  slow  and  solemn  tread  to  the  place  of  sepulture,  it 
was  honourable  alike  to  the  living  and  the  dead  to  see 
how  many  hearts  were  touched  by  this  spectacle  — 
the  funeral  of  a  young  man ! 

If  God  speaks  to  us  in  his  providence  as  well  as  by 
his  Word,  an  event  like  this  should  not  be  treated 
with  indifference.  It  is  charged  with  a  mission  which 
it  deeply  behooves  us  to  understand.  We  shall  not, 
probably,  misinterpret  one  of  its  lessons  if  we  make 
it  the  occasion  of  considering,  for  a  little,  the  position 
and  relations  of  the  class  of  young  men  to  which  our 
deceased  friend  belonged,  and  the  importance  to  them 
of  personal  religion. 

I  speak  of  them  as  a  class  by  themselves,  for  such, 
in  fact,  they  are.  The  young  men  in  our  mercantile 
establishments  —  those  particularly  in  our  "jobbing 
houses" — are,  most  of  them,  from  abroad.  They  are 
neither  natives  of  this  city,  nor  are  they  here  for  a 
year  or  two  simply  as  students.  They  have  come 
here  to  reside,  and  are  ultimately  to  become  mer 
chants  themselves.  This  is  one  circumstance  which 
marks  them  as  a  distinct  class. 


394          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

Another  is  that  they  usually  board  at  the  hotels. 
Commercial  ends  are  secured  by  this,  which  are 
thought  to  be  of  much  importance. 

They  have,  again,  a  common  occupation.  They 
are  in  the  same,  or  similar,  kinds  of  business.  The 
received  methods  of  our  inland  commerce  impart  a 
substantial  identity  to  their  duties,  their  temptations, 
their  pleasures,  and  their  general  mode  of  life,  and 
separate  them,  in  a  measure,  from  the  rest  of  the 
community. 

These  attributes  of  the  class,  as  such,  must  suffice 
to  show  that  their  position  is  not  altogether  favourable 
to  the  cultivation  of  virtue  and  religion.  There  is  a 
great  deal  involved  in  taking  a  young  man  from  his 
home,  and  setting  him  down  to  do  for  himself  in  a 
large  city.  The  mere  removal  of  a  youth  from  a 
good  home  to  any  other  situation  —  to  a  school  or 
college,  to  the  house  of  a  friend  or  relative,  to  a  shop 
or  a  store  —  brings  with  it  a  serious  trial  of  character. 
But  here  the  case  is  a  very  strong  one.  Compare  a 
modest,  tranquil  dwelling  in  a  small  town  or  hamlet 
of  Kentucky  or  Tennessee,  with  one  of  our  mammoth 
HOTELS,  and  you  will  begin  to  understand  the  ordeal 
which  some  thousands  of  young  men  in  our  city  have 
passed  through.  It  is  not  easy  to  conceive  of  any 
greater  social  change  which  they  could  have  experi 
enced,  than  this.  At  a  single  bound  they  have 


LIFE   AT   A   HOTEL.  395 

passed  from  all  the  genial  influences  which  sheltered, 
restrained,  and  nurtured  them  in  such  a  home,  into 
a  scene  which  contains  scarcely  an  element  of  domes 
tic  life.  Instead  of  sitting  down  at  a  snug  family 
board  with  the  same  little  group  from  month  to 
month,  they  sit  at  a  table  with  two  or  three  hundred 
guests,  and  these  changing  every  day.  In  place  of 
the  sympathy,  the  tenderness,  the  mutual  confidence 
and  refining  fellowship  of  a  mother  and  sisters,  they 
are  surrounded  by  men — respectable  and  worthy  per 
sons,  no  doubt,  but  all  men — and  as  such,  no  adequate 
companions  to  replace  the  circle  they  have  left.  For 
an  atmosphere  of  love,  where  there  was  some  one  to 
share  in  every  joy,  and  divide  every  trouble ;  where 
their  every  want  was  promptly  supplied,  and  every 
indication  of  pain  or  anxiety  was  made  the  occasion 
for  fresh  offices  of  affection ;  they  have  been  trans 
planted  into  one  which,  though  not  destitute  of  this 
element,  savours  far  more  of  indifference  and  selfish 
ness.  They  are  in  a  throng  who  are  thrown  together 
by  interest  or  convenience,  business  or  pleasure ;  the 
most  of  whom  are  not  stationary  long  enough  to  form 
any  attachments ;  and  who  sever  the  precarious  tie 
which  constitutes  their  transient  bond  of  union,  with 
as  little  feeling  as  they  formed  it. 

This  change  in  their  domestic  relations  is  emble 
matical  of  that  which  has  taken  place  in  their  situa- 


396          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTIXG-HOUSE. 

tion  at  large.  They  have  relinquished  the  seclusion 
and  simplicity  of  the  country,  for  life  in  a  great 
metropolis.  Everything  here  is  widely  different. 
The  outward  face  of  things  is  so  unlike  the  country, 
that  a  young  man  is  often  bewildered  when  he  is  first 
dropped  in  the  heart  of  a  city,  with  its  multitudinous 
streets  and  lanes,  its  interminable  ranges  of  houses 
and  shops,  its  imposing  public  buildings,  the  rapid 
succession  of  vehicles  of  every  pattern  which  sweep 
along  the  avenues,  and  the  endless  crowds  of  human 
beings  that  jostle  each  other  on  the  sidewalks.  It  is 
to  such  a  youth  a  new  world  —  stranger  and  more 
exciting  even  than  it  would  be  to  an  intelligent  and 
travelled  American  or  European,  to  be  put  down  in 
the  streets  of  Pekin  or  Jeddo.  Nor  is  the  exchange 
very  advantageous  on  the  score  of  morals.  Natural 
scenery,  it  is  true,  will  never  renew  the  heart.  Vol 
taire  wrote  many  of  his  infamous  libels  upon  Chris 
tianity,  and  some  of  his  most  licentious  tales  and 
essays,  while  looking  out  from  his  villa  at  Ferney, 
upon  as  glorious  a  panorama  as  mortal  eyes  ever 
gazed  upon.  And  humanity  has  few  more  degraded 
specimens  of  its  handiwork  to  present  to  the  sympathy 
of  the  philanthropist,  than  some  which  can  be  found 
among  the  most  picturesque  regions  of  the  globe. 
Still,  there  is  much  in  nature,  as  contrasted  with  a 
great  city,  that  is  adapted  to  refine  and  improve  the 
character  — 


RURAL    INFLUENCES.  397 

"  Scenes  formed  for  contemplation,  and  to  nurse 
The  growing  seeds  of  wisdom ;  that  suggest, 
By  every  pleasing  image  they  present, 
Reflections  such  as  meliorate  the  heart, 
Compose  the  passions,  and  exalt  the  mind." 

It  is  certainly  a  material  advantage  that  in  the 
country,  the  objects  which  meet  the  senses  speak  of 
GOD,  while  in  the  city  we  are  reminded  only  of  man. 
Not  only  do  the  mountains  and  forests,  the  valleys 
and  rivers,  illustrate  the  wisdom  and  majesty  of  the 
Deity ;  but  "  the  spectacle  of  active  nature  is  no  less 
favourable  to  the  cultivation  of  religious  feeling  than 
the  contemplation  of  its  passive  scenes ;  every  bird 
and  every  animal  has  its  habits  of  life  independent 
of  man ;  it  has  a  sagacity  which  man  never  taught ; 
and  propensities  which  man  could  not  inspire.  The 
growth  of  all  the  plants  and  fruits  of  the  earth, 
depends  upon  laws  over  which  man  has  no  control : 
out  of  great  cities  there  is  everywhere  around  and 
about  us  a  vast  system  going  on  utterly  independent 
of  human  wisdom  and  human  interference ;  and  man 
learns  there  the  great  lesson  of  his  imbecility  and 
dependence,  not  by  that  reflection  to  which  superior 
minds  alone  can  attain,  but  by  those  daily  impres 
sions  upon  his  senses  which  make  the  lesson  more 
universal  and  more  certain.  But  here  everything  is 
man,  and  man  alone ;  kings  and  senates  command  us ; 
34 


398          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

we  talk  of  their  decrees  and  look  up  to  their  pleasure ; 
they  seem  to  move  and  govern  all,  and  to  be  the  pro 
vidence  of  cities ;  in  this  seat  of  government,  placed 
under  the  shadow  of  those  who  make  the  laws,  we  do 
not  render  unto  Caesar  the  things  which  are  Caesar's, 
and  unto  God  the  things  which  are  God's ;  but  God  is 
forgotten,  and  Caesar  is  supreme ;  all  is  human  policy, 
human  foresight,  human  power ;  nothing  reminds  us 
of  invisible  dominion  and  concealed  omnipotence ;  we 
do  nothing  but  what  man  bids ;  we  see  nothing  but 
what  man  creates ;  we  mingle  with  nothing  but  what 
man  commands ;  it  is  all  earth  and  no  heaven."  * 

In  the  letter,  this  pertains  to  London ;  in  its  spirit, 
it  applies  to  all  great  cities.  Nor  does  it  state  the 
whole  truth.  Not  only  have  we  to  do  here  with 
man's  works,  man's  laws,  man's  projects,  with  every 
thing  that  is  of  man  and  that  is  fitted  to  fasten  the 
attention  upon  man,  but  we  "  live  and  move  and  have 
our  being"  amidst  a  crowd  —  and  it  must  be  a  robust 
integrity  which  can  stand  this.  We  are  admonished 
against  the  danger  from  this  source  on  high  authority. 
"  Be  not  ye  the  servants  of  men."  "  Thou  shalt  not 
follow  a  multitude  to  do  evil."  The  best  of  us  need 
to  have  these  warnings  frequently  sounded  in  our 
ears.  And  how  essential  are  they  to  the  class  whom 
I  am  addressing  !  No  man  can  be  blind  to  the  whole- 

*  Sydney  Smith. 


METROPOLITAN  SEDUCTIONS.        399 

some  restraints  which  are  imposed  on  vice,  in  a  city 
like  this,  nor  to  the  powerful  agencies  which  are  here 
originated  for  the  support  of  real  religion.  It  is  in  no 
small  measure  through  metropolitan  capital,  energy, 
intelligence,  and  piety,  that  the  mighty  conflict  with 
sin  is  carried  forward,  which  is,  by  the  blessing  of 
God,  to  result  in  the  general  diffusion  of  Christianity. 
But  it  cannot,  on  the  other  hand,  be  denied,  that  a 
perfect  torrent  of  worldliness  is  perpetually  pouring 
itself  through  all  the  streets  and  marts  of  such  a  city. 
The  multitudes  have  their  eyes  fixed,  not  on  heaven, 
but  on  earth.  Their  employments,  their  conversation, 
the  motives  which  drive  them  on  in  the  fierce  race  of 
competition,  the  institutions  and  implements  of  com 
merce,  the  whole  network  of  their  daily  associations, 
are  secularizing  in  their  tendency.  And  when  you 
superadd  to  these  influences,  the  fascinating  amuse 
ments  and  gilded  vices  which  impregnate  the  atmo 
sphere  with  their  grateful  but  deadly  malaria,  and 
infuse  a  new  and  most  effective  element  into  the 
reigning  levity  and  hardihood  of  the  crowd,  you  can 
not  fail  to  see  what  imminent  peril  waits  upon  every 
young  man  who  places  himself  within  the  reach  of 
these  potent  seductions.  The  strong  impulse  of  those 
who  come  here  from  the  interior  especially,  and  are 
severed  from  their  homes,  must  be,  to  fall  in  with  the 
current  and  let  it  bear  them  where  it  will.  It  is 


400          THE    BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

natural  and  easy  to  do  as  others  do  around  us  —  to 
conform  to  the  popular  usages  and  fashions.  Men 
cease  to  be  nice  casuists  when  they  are  mixed  up  in  a 
crowd.  The  practical  verdict  of  the  multitude  super 
sedes  their  inquiries  into  the  right  and  wrong  of 
actions,  and  sweeps  away  their  scruples  —  or,  at  least 
sweeps  them  away,  even  though  their  scruples  re 
main.  The  motives  which  induce  this  passive  acqui 
escence  in  the  ways  of  the  majority,  may  be  com 
mendable.  It  may  spring  from  modesty,  or  from  a 
dread  of  singularity.  "  Who  am  I,  that  I  should  set 
myself  up  as  wiser  and  better  than  those  around  me  ? 
Why  am  I  called  upon  to  condemn  practices  and 
habits  which  have  the  sanction  of  so  many  older  and 
abler  men  ?  Can  that  be  wrong  which  has  so  general 
an  approval  ?  I  am  but  an  humble  individual ;  can 
any  harm  result  from  my  living  as  other  people 
live?"  With  such  specious  sophistries  as  these, 
young  men  too  often  persuade  themselves  to  barter 
their  independence  and  their  rectitude,  for  a  listless 
and  unworthy  subserviency  to  the  opinions  of  their 
neighbours.  On  any  other  subject  they  might  dare 
to  be  singular.  On  questions  of  politics,  of  trade,  of 
education,  of  literature,  they  venture  not  only  to 
think  for  themselves,  but  to  utter  their  sentiments 
with  manly  freedom,  and  shape  their  conduct  accord 
ingly.  But  where  morals  and  religion  are  concerned, 


ABORTIVE   STRUGGLES.  401 

they  are  either  seized  with  a  timidity  which  makes 
them  suppress  their  convictions,  or  paralyzed  by  an 
apathy  which  produces  a  servile  assent,  where  there 
ought  to  be  a  fearless  resistance.  If  we  could  cull  a 
few  leaves  from  the  private  journals  of  mercantile 
life,  such  as  are  filed  away,  not  in  the  pigeon-holes 
of  an  escritoir,  but  in  the  recesses  of  the  heart,  it 
might  appear  that  no  small  portion  of  the  young  men 
of  this  class  have  brought  themselves  to  fall  in  with 
one  practice  and  another  of  the  commercial  world, 
only  through  a  tedious  series  of  unavowed  misgivings 
and  remonstrances;  while  many  others  have  been 
content  to  take  things  as  they  were,  without  inquiry 
or  reflection.  It  cannot  be  disguised  that,  as  a  body, 
their  morals  are  exposed  to  more  or  less  danger  from 
the  preternatural  excitement  which  pervades  the  whole 
realm  of  commerce.  This  excitement  may  be  detected 
wherever  there  is  trafficking  on  a  large  scale ;  but  it 
has  its  foci  in  our  great  cities ;  and  these  young  men, 
like  the  angel  in  the  sun,  are  just  at  the  burning 
point.  Allowing  that  the  rivalries  and  conflicts  which 
occupy  them  are  of  a  generous  nature,  still  they  are 
a  crucible  to  character,  and  it  is  well  if  they  come  out 
of  them  unscathed.  In  the  customary  routine  of  their 
duties,  they  are  selling  goods  to  men  of  every  type, 
seeking  customers  at  their  hotels  for  the  houses  they 
represent,  carrying  on  a  large  correspondence,  taking 
84* 


402          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

long  and  hazardous  journeys,  repelling  what  they 
regard  as  calumniatory  statements  from  adverse 
sources,  sometimes  brought  into  immediate  collision 
with  the  agents  of  counter-interests,  and  tempted,  not 
unfrequently,  with  a  view  to  mere  mercantile  ends, 
to  accompany  strangers  to  places  of  vicious  amuse 
ment ; —  and  it  were  a  marvel  if  their  principles 
should  suffer  no  damage  in  a  life  like  this.  Let  it  be 
recorded  to  the  lasting  honour  of  the  profession  to 
which  they  have  devoted  themselves,  that  amidst 
these  hostile  influences  there  are  constantly  moulding 
characters  of  noble  strength  and  symmetry ;  and  that, 
in  the  aggregate,  they  maintain  in  their  proper  sphere, 
the  high  reputation  of  the  commercial  class  for  can 
dour  and  probity.  Still,  there  are  disasters.  This 
is  a  coast  where  too  many  fine  barques  have  been 
wrecked,  and  too  many  shattered,  not  to  put  us  on 
our  guard  against  its  dangers.  How  these  can  be 
eluded  or  surmounted  must  be  a  question  of  absorbing 
interest  with  every  young  man  engaged  in  mercantile 
pursuits.  It  is  a  question  quite  too  comprehensive  to 
be  answered  in  a  single  sermon.  A  few  suggestions 
must,  in  the  present  service,  supply  the  place  of  a 
formal  dissertation  on  this  subject. 

Nothing  effective  can  be  done  in  the  right  direction, 
until  a  young  man  awakes  to  his  PERSONAL  RESPON 
SIBILITY.  So  long  as  we  move  in  a  crowd,  swayed 


PERSONAL   RESPONSIBILITY.  403 

to  and  fro  by  its  eddies — like  the  twig  entangled  in  a 
mass  of  rubbish  on  the  bosom  of  a  running  stream  — 
we  cannot  but  miss  the  proper  end  of  our  being.  The 
servitude  of  caste  must  be  broken.  We  must  think 
and  act  for  ourselves.  We  must  be  impressed  with 
the  conviction  that  there  is  not  only  a  fitness  and 
an  unfitness,  an  expediency  and  an  inexpediency,  a 
beauty  and  a  deformity,  in  our  specific  actions  and 
our  general  plans  and  aims,  but  also  A  RIGHT  AND 
A  WRONG  ;  that  this  is,  beyond  all  comparison,  their 
most  important  relation ;  and  that  the  standard  by 
which  it  is  to  be  adjusted  is  not  usage,  but  the  LAW 
OF  GOD.  It  may  very  well  happen  that  your  prin 
ciples  and  life  are  in  harmony  with  those  of  the  great 
commercial  brotherhood  to  which  you  belong,  and 
that  they  justly  secure  to  you  the  respect  and  confi 
dence  commonly  awarded  to  such  virtues  as  adorn 
your  characters.  But  is  there  not  another  tribunal 
to  which  you  are  amenable ?  "With  me,"  says  the 
apostle  Paul,  "it  is  a  very  small  thing  that  I  should 
be  judged  of  you,  or  of  man's  judgment :  yea,  I  judge 
not  mine  own  self,  but  he  that  judgeth  me  is  the 
LORD."  This  is  as  true  of  each  one  of  us  as  it  was 
of  Paul.  We  need  not  disparage  the  opinions  of  our 
fellow-men ;  we  may,  within  proper  limits,  court  their 
approbation.  But  it  is  a  fatal  error  to  confound  their 
commendation  with  the  Divine  sanction,  to  mistake 


404          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

the  vox  populi  for  the  vox  Dei,  the  voice  of  the  people 
for  the  voice  of  God.  The  balances  in  which  motives 
and  actions  are  weighed,  are  hung  high  above  the 
tumults  of  commerce  —  beyond  the  reach  of  all  those 
influences  which  beguile  our  consciences  and  bias  our 
judgments.  And  he  alone  is  likely  to  go  on  in  the 
path  of  rectitude,  with  an  unfaltering  step,  who  has 
his  eye  steadfastly  fixed  on  them,  and  labours  to  poise 
his  motives  and  conduct  by  their  unerring  decisions. 
This  cannot  be  done  by  one  who  lives  only  in  the 
crowd.  It  is  indispensable,  if  we  would  attain  it, 

that  We  HAVE  OUR  SEASONS  OF  SELF-COMMUNION  AND 

COMMUNION  WITH  GOD.  If  our  Saviour  found  it 
needful  to  retire  frequently  for  prayer,  how  essential 
must  secret  meditation  and  devotion  be  to  us  !  The 
very  circumstance  of  withdrawing  for  this  purpose  — 
the  consciousness  of  being  alone  with  God  —  is  pecu 
liarly  adapted  to  foster  that  feeling  of  personal 
responsibility  of  which  we  have  just  spoken.  There, 
in  that  solitary  chamber,  the  noisy  world  shut  out, 
the  tramp  and  hum  of  the  crowd  heard  only  as  a 
distant  murmur,  the  cares  of  business  and  the  entice 
ments  of  sin  left  behind  —  there,  with  your  Bible 
open  before  you,  and  your  thoughts  going  up  to  the 
throne  of  the  Omniscient,  you  cannot  well  help  feel 
ing  that  you  have  an  existence  of  your  own,  an  indi 
viduality  which  cannot  be  merged  in  the  activities  of 


ENTER  INTO   THY   CLOSET.  405 

the  surrounding  multitude,  but  which  is  as  complete 
and  intransferable  as  though  you  were  the  only 
rational  tenant  of  the  globe.  The  legitimate  effect 
of  these  seasons  of  seclusion  is  to  restore  those  im 
pressions  of  the  invisible  and  the  spiritual,  which  con 
tinual  commerce  with  the  world  tends  to  efface.  They 
supply  us  with  a  new  stand-point  from  which  to  survey 
the  world  at  large,  and  our  own  particular  relations 
to  it.  You  must  sometimes  have  noted  in  travelling, 
how  different  are  the  views  you  get  of  a  region  of 
country,  as  you  stand  upon  a  lofty  ridge,  and  retrace 
your  route,  from  those  which  beguiled  you  by  the 
way.  And  the  difference  will  be  far  greater  in  the 
estimates  you  form  of  yourself  and  of  the  world  in 
your  own  dormitory,  with  the  Scriptures  for  your 
guide,  as  compared  with  those  which  have  engrossed 
you  while  actually  pursuing  your  daily  avocations. 
It  is  here  you  will  be  likely  to  get  a  fresh  sight  of 
that  immutable  standard  of  right  and  wrong,  which 
is  so  often  obscured  or  distorted  by  the  mists  of  pas 
sion  and  prejudice.  Here  you  will  measure  yourself, 
not  by  your  fellow-worms,  but  by  the  perfect  Exem 
plar  proposed  to  us  in  the  Gospel.  Here  you  will 
detect  the  unworthy  motives  of  some  of  your  actions 
which  have  elicited  the  applause  of  your  friends,  and 
be  led  to  see  that  you  have  less  cause  to  be  exalted 
before  men,  than  you  have  to  be  abased  before  God. 


406         THE   BIBLE   IN  THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

Here,  in  a  word,  you  will  have  those  momentous 
themes  presented  to  you  which  we  are  all  so  apt  to 
lose  sight  of,  and  a  due  appreciation  of  which  is 
essential  both  to  our  present  comfort  and  our  eternal 
well-being.  Whatever  is  neglected,  then,  let  provision 
be  made,  in  the  adjustment  of  your  time,  for  a  daily 
season  of  devotion. 

From  private  to  public  devotion,  the  transition  is 
easy  and  natural.  Look  again  at  your  position. 
Immortal,  accountable,  and  dying  creatures,  you  are 
placed  in  circumstances  where  you  are  in  imminent 
danger  of  being  swept  away  by  the  torrent  of  secu- 
larity  which  breaks  over  you  with  all  its  force  during 
six  days  of  every  week.  Duty,  interest,  happiness, 
your  everlasting  salvation,  are  all  involved  in  your 
escaping  or  repelling  it.  What  are  you  to  do  ?  To 
breast  it  in  your  own  strength,  would  be  like  attempting 
to  breast  the  rapids  of  the  Niagara,  and  must  equally 
lead  to  a  fatal  catastrophe.  But  our  heavenly  Father 
has  not  left  us  to  so  hard  a  fate.  He  has  offered  us 
his  own  Almighty  arm  for  a  support,  and  taught  us 
how  to  avail  ourselves  of  it.  Pre-eminent  among  his 
merciful  arrangements  for  this  end,  stands  the  CHRIS 
TIAN  SABBATH  —  an  institution  so  fraught  with  bless 
ings  of  every  kind,  that  to  contemn  it  would  argue  a 
mind  dead  to  all  sense  of  gratitude,  and  to  all  proper 
consideration  for  the  improvement  of  the  race.  In 


THE   DAY   OF   REST.  407 

your  situation,  the  Sabbath  has  a  value  which  no 
words  can  express.  It  comes  to  you  with  its  sweet 
repose,  to  refresh  you  from  your  toil  and  weariness. 
It  comes  to  turn  the  current  of  your  associations ;  to 
repeat  for  you  the  miracle  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  roll 
back,  for  a  few  hours,  the  swelling  tide  which  threat 
ens  to  submerge  you ;  to  take  you  out  of  the  beaten 
track  in  which  you  are  treading  your  ceaseless  rounds, 
and  open  to  you  the  green  pastures  and  still  waters 
of  paradise ;  to  change  the  scene  for  you,  from  ware 
houses  and  customers,  merchandize  and  trafficking,  to 
the  house  of  God,  the  reverence  and  the  solemnity  of 
a  worshipping  assembly,  the  songs  of  Zion,  and  the 
sublime  themes  of  revelation.  An  alternation  like  this 
is  invaluable,  in  a  mere  intellectual  view.  The  mind 
dwarfs  and  rusts  if  it  is  kept  to  a  stereotype  routine 
of  functions.  To  give  breadth  and  comprehension  to 
its  powers,  the  subjects  on  which  they  are  employed 
must  be  diversified.  It  were  better  to  change  some 
times  to  trifling  objects,  than  not  to  change  at  all. 
And  if  this  principle  be  sound,  the  advantage,  simply 
in  the  way  of  mental  culture,  must  be  incalculable, 
when  the  subjects  presented  for  consideration  are  at 
once  the  most  majestic  and  the  most  urgent  which  can 
engage  the  attention  of  rational  beings.  The  time 
forbids  me  to  go  into  this  inquiry  now,  but  the  fact 
must  be  apparent  to  every  hearer,  that  you  render  an 


408          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

individual  a  most  useful  service,  aside  from  any  moral 
benefit  he  may  receive,  when  you  replace,  even  for  an 
hour  or  two,  the  mass  of  earthliness  which  fills  his 
heart  and  monopolizes  his  faculties  from  day  to  day, 
with  ideas  of  God  and  eternity,  the  soul  and  its 
destiny,  redemption  and  perdition.  You  startle  him 
from  his  torpor.  You  wake  up  his  powers.  You 
open  to  him  a  new  creation.  You  send  off  his 
thoughts  into  regions  he  had  scarcely  dreamed  of. 
You  enlarge  the  grasp  of  his  faculties,  and  qualify 
him  to  pass  with  a  discrimination  and  an  acuteness 
previously  undeveloped,  upon  the  common  pursuits 
and  familiar  topics  of  life.  So  true  is  it,  that  "  the 
fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom,"  even 
taking  "wisdom"  in  its  lowest  signification. 

But  the  Sabbath  has  a  much  stronger  claim  upon 
you  than  this,  and  it  is  insisted  upon  here  because 
this  is  precisely  the  pivot  upon  which  the  career  of 
thousands  of  clerks  in  our  cities  hinges.  The  Sab 
bath  is  the  point  in  their  scheme  of  life  at  which 
the  road  forks;  one  track  leading  on  to  honour, 
success,  and  usefulness ;  the  other  to  ultimate  ruin, 
and  frequently  to  premature  failure  and  disgrace. 
If  you  consider  the  matter  (for  I  can  do  little  more 
than  state  the  fact),  you  will  find  that  the  proper 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  is  affiliated  with  every 
virtue  and  every  good  habit,  with  all  the  agencies 


GOOD  POLICY  TO  KEEP  THE  SABBATH.    409 

which  are  favourable  to  self-improvement  and  solid 
happiness,  and  all  those  which  go  to  prepare  men  for 
heaven ;  while  the  habitual  desecration  or  neglect  of 
this  day  is  as  closely  interlaced  with  the  evil  propen 
sities  of  the  heart,  with  vicious  habits,  and  with  those 
pestiferous  influences  which  subvert  men's  principles 
and  destroy  their  souls.  The  profanation  of  the 
Sabbath  implies  a  want  of  reverence  for  the  Divine 
authority,  and  of  gratitude  for  the  Divine  goodness, 
which  is  itself  an  evil  omen.  There  is  a  flaw  already 
in  the  character  or  the  conscience  of  the  man  who 
can  permit  himself  to  invade  the  sanctity  of  that  day 
which  Jehovah  claims  as  his  own,  and  upon  which  He  has 
impressed  his  image  and  superscription.  This  conduct 
denotes  an  absence  of  that  plenary  integrity  towards 
God  which  is  the  best  guarantee  of  inflexible  integrity 
towards  man.  Honesty  may  co-exist  with  irreligion 
and  with  downright  infidelity.  But  its  only  immu 
table  and  adequate  basis  is  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  A 
merchant  who  looks  only  to  his  own  interest,  and  who 
is  as  indifferent  to  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his  clerks 
as  he  is  to  the  thrift  of  the  dray-horses  in  the  street, 
would  nevertheless  pursue  a  wise  policy  by  encourag 
ing  them  to  a  faithful  observance  of  the  Sabbath. 
The  more  they  feel  their  obligations  to  God,  the  more 
conscientious  will  they  be  in  serving  their  employer ; 
for,  it  is  the  same  principle  which  puts  a  man  upon 
35 


410          THE   BIBLE    IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

fearing  God,  and  upon  rendering  to  all  their  dues — . 
•which  makes  one  loyal  to  heaven,  and  upright  in  all 
that  pertains  to  earth.  The  neglect  of  the  Sabbath 
involves  a  disreputable  neglect  of  the  Bible.  It 
fosters  a  disrelish  for  serious  things.  It  blunts  the 
conscience.  It  promotes  indolence  and  instability. 
It  frequently  contributes  to  nourish  a  taste  for  demo 
ralizing  books.  It  leads  to  bad  company  —  Sunday- 
drives  —  drinking  —  theatres  —  and  other  pernicious 
recreations.  It  lays  men  open  to  the  subtle  approaches 
of  skeptics  and  scoffers.  While,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  removes  from  them  the  restraints,  and  deprives 
them  of  the  helps,  which  we  all  require  in  our  war 
fare  with  sin,  and  which  they  certainly  require,  who 
rush  unbidden  into  all  these  temptations.  A  volume 
would  scarcely  suffice  to  discuss  this  topic.  But  the 
occasion  precludes  my  doing  more  than  to  exhort  you 
by  every  motive  which  can  be  addressed  to  your 
interest,  your  duty,  or  your  desire  of  happiness,  to 
guard  your  Sabbaths  from  desecration.  God  has 
given  you  this  day  as  your  own  :  "  The  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man."  The  world  has  no  right  to  it. 
Business  has  no  lien  upon  it.  Friends  may  not 
deprive  you  of  it.  He  has  bestowed  it  upon  you 
for  your  own  use  and  benefit ;  and,  if  your  eyes  are 
not  holden,  you  will  see  that  it  is  a  more  munificent 
gift  than  if  he  had  marie  you  a  grant  of  all  the  ships 


CHURCH-GOING    HABITS.  411 

that  float  on  our  waters,  or  all  the  gold  they  have 
brought  here  for  coinage.  Dedicate  it  to  its  high 
and  holy  purposes  —  to  the  worship  of  God,  to  your 
preparation  for  etarnity,  and  to  philanthropic  labours 
for  your  destitute  or  suffering  fellow-creatures.  HAVE 

A    PLACE   IN    SOME    EVANGELICAL    ClIURCII  —  a   place 

which  shall  be  your  own.  This  will  make  you  feel 
like  occupying  it,  and  take  away  that  illusive  and 
fatal  pretext,  which  keeps  so  many  young  men  from 
the  sanctuary,  that  they  ''have  no  place  to  go  to." 
It  will  do  more.  By  identifying  yourselves  with  a 
congregation,  you  become  sharers  in  their  sympathies 
and  their  prayers.  You  participate,  more  or  less,  in 
their  spiritual  blessings.  The  very  relations  you 
sustain  towards  them  will  become  fresh  incentives  to 
virtuous  conduct.  You  will  be  conscious  of  occupy 
ing  a  more  conspicuous,  and,  I  may  add,  a  more 
honourable,  position  in  the  community ;  of  having 
friendly  eyes  turned  upon  you,  and  friendly  expecta 
tions  cherished  concerning  you ;  all  which  will  be 
wholesome  props  and  stimulants  in  the  race  of  life. 
Above  all,  this  will  bring  you  within  the  sound  of  the 
Gospel.  It  will  set  home  upon  your  consciences  at 
stated  intervals,  those  lessons  of  our  mortality  and 
responsibility  which  we  are  all  so  prone  to  forget, 
keep  you  admonished  that  it  is  your  duty  to  "  seek 
first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,"  and 


412          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE    COUNTING-HOUSE. 

supply  you  with  the  aids  essential  to  the  achievement 
of  this  great  end.  Let  nothing,  then,  prevent  you 
from  attaching  yourselves,  not  by  the  precarious  tie 
of  caprice  or  fashion,  but  by  the  firm  bond  of  principle 
and  duty,  to  some  evangelical  congregation. 

It  will  not  do,  however,  to  rest  here.  "  The  king 
dom  of  God"  must  be  sought  until  it  is  found.  By 
nature  and  by  practice  we  are  alienated  from  God, 
and  rebels  against  him.  Our  prime  duty,  our  most 
urgent  necessity,  is  to  be  restored  to  his  favour,  and 
transformed  into  his  image.  We  must  be  pardoned 
through  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  renewed  by  the 
Divine  Spirit,  or  we  are  lost  for  ever.  We  require 
this,  as  already  intimated,  on  other  grounds.  It 
were  a  theme  well  worthy  your  attention  —  true 
religion  as  an  element  in  the  commercial  character — 
a  subject  of  peculiar  interest,  and  happily  illustrated 
in  numerous  examples  around  us,  of  accomplished 
merchants  whose  lives  are  transfused  with  the  spirit 
of  genuine  piety.  It  would  be  a  grateful  office  to 
trace  the  influence  of  a  steadfast  and  intelligent  faith 
both  upon  the  intellectual  and  the  moral  powers  —  to 
see  how  it  operates  in  imparting  strength  and  sym 
metry  to  the  character  —  how  it  fosters  integrity, 
prudence,  sagacity,  and  industry  —  how  it  excites  to 
the  cultivation  of  all  the  faculties  —  how  it  represses 
evil  tendencies  and  wards  off  temptations  —  and  how 


PATHS   OF  DANGER.  413 

it  inspires  general  respect  and  confidence.  These 
are  important  bearings  of  personal  religion  as  regards 
mercantile  character  and  success.  But  we  have  no 
time  to  consider  them  in  detail. 

To  a  single  one  of  them  I  may  be  allowed  to  ad 
vert  briefly;  I  refer  to  the  temptations  incident  to 
your  peculiar  vocation.  What  these  are,  you  know 
a  great  deal  better  than  I  can  tell  you.  That  they 
are  neither  few  nor  small,  might  be  inferred  from  the 
sketches  already  given  of  your  general  mode  of  life. 
You  have  your  homes  in  those  great  establishments 
(conducted,  often,  let  it  be  said,  with  admirable  skill 
and  efficiency)  into  which  steamboats  and  railway 
trains  are  constantly  pouring  crowds  of  travellers. 
Imbued  with  a  becoming  zeal  for  the  success  of  your 
respective  houses,  you  adopt  all  honourable  measures 
to  extend  their  business.  Among  the  eager  and  shift 
ing  multitude  with  whom  you  are  thus  brought  in 
contact,  are  men  who  are  curious  to  see  the  sights  of 
the  city,  and  others  who  are  bent  on  amusements  and 
indulgences  which  the  small  towns  and  villages  they 
reside  in  do  not  supply.  Your  aid  is  invoked  as 
guides  and  companions  —  possibly,  sometimes,  ten 
dered  where  it  is  not  invoked.  You  will  not  thank 
me,  perhaps,  if  I  go  further.  But  how  can  I  do  you 
good  unless  I  tell  you  the  truth  ?  Let  me  remind 
you,  then,  that  this  very  process  has  brought  many  a 
35* 


414          THE    BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

promising  young  man  to  ruin.  It  too  often  conducts, 
them  to  the  theatre,  and  other  places  of  vicious  amuse 
ment.  It  carries  them  out  on  Sunday  excursions. 
It  leads  to  drinking  and  card-playing.  It  makes 
them  acquainted  with  gamblers  and  profligates  —  the 
marauders  that  may  be  seen  at  almost  all  hours  of 
the  day,  lounging  about  some  of  the  most  conspicuous 
corners  in  our  city,  and  who,  if  tolerated,  will  entrench 
themselves  in  the  hotels.  A  salesman  will  vindicate 
this  policy  to  his  own  conscience,  on  the  ground  that 
it  is  designed  to  subserve  the  interests  of  his  princi 
pals.  This  it  may  do  for  a  time,  and  in  a  limited 
degree  ;  but  it  seldom  works  well  in  the  end.  Busi 
ness  may  be  increased  at  too  large  a  cost.  Gun- 
cotton  was  at  first  hailed  as  a  wonderful  achievement 
in  the  arts,  and  one  likely  to  be  of  high  public  utility. 
But  it  has  been  found  that  the  process  of  preparing 
it  is  attended  with  imminent  hazard  to  the  operatives, 
and  that  when  manufactured,  it  is  a  very  dangerous 
tenant :  the  risk  of  it  is  greater  than  its  value. 
Custom  that  is  got  by  treating  and  frequenting  scenes 
of  dissipation,  is  very  like  gun-cotton.  It  jeopards 
health  and  character  to  get  it,  and  when  secured,  it 
is  very  apt  to  blow  up  and  scatter  your  property  to 
the  winds.*  How  can  it  be  otherwise  ?  No  man 

*  I  have  heard  one  of  the  most  accomplished  and  influ 
ential  salesmen  in  this  city,  say,  that  in  the  whole  of  his 


COSTLY    CUSTOMERS.  415 

can  be  an  eligible  customer,  who  is  not  a  man  of  cor 
rect  principles  and  habits.  If  he  lacks  this  requisite, 
the  larger  his  purchases  the  more  perilous  for  the 
house  that  sells  to  him.  What  reliance,  then,  can  be 
placed  upon  a  man  whose  morals  are  already  so 
debauched  that  he  spends  his  time  while  in  the  city, 
in  sensual  pleasures  ?  or  upon  one  of  so  little  intelli 
gence  and  energy,  that  a  bottle  of  wine  or  a  compli 
mentary  visit  to  some  place  of  amusement,  will  control 
him  in  buying  his  goods  ?  It  is  suicidal  for  a  house 
to  countenance  any  measure  which  may  tend  to 
weaken  the  moral  sense  of  a  customer,  or  foster  his 
inferior  appetites.  How  many  have  been  inoculated 
in  our  Atlantic  cities  with  the  fatal  virus  of  intem 
perance  or  gambling,  who  have  gone  back  to  their 
distant  homes  and  indulged  these  propensities  for  a 
while  in  secret,  until  at  length,  after  a  few  more 
visits  to  the  seaboard,  they  have  been  mastered  by 
their  evil  passions,  and  ruined  in  health,  fortune,  and 
character.  "  Wealth  gotten  by  vanity  shall  be  dimi 
nished."  There  is  a  Providence  as  much  in  com 
merce  as  in  religion :  and  it  can  excite  no  surprise 
in  a  reflecting  mind,  that  a  traffic  which  it  has 
corrupted  the  morals  of  clerks  and  customers  to  gain, 

experience,  he  never  knew  a  customer  secured  by  the  course 
alluded  to,  who  did  not  prove,  in  the  end,  a  scourge  to  the 
house  he  dealt  with. 


416          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

should  sooner  or  later  entail  losses,  if  not  dishonour, 
on  all  concerned  in  it. 

Let  not  these  observations  be  misunderstood.  They 
involve  no  impeachment  of  the  mercantile  body,  as 
such.  The  character  of  this  profession,  whether  in 
the  city  or  the  country,  for  general  intelligence  and 
probity,  is  beyond  reproach ;  as  is  the  reputation  of 
the  young  men,  as  a  class,  who  are  charged  with  the 
endless  subordinate  (or,  in  one  sense,  primary)  agen 
cies  in  the  world  of  trade.  But  no  profession  is  free 
from  unworthy  members.  And  even  if  there  were 
fewer  of  this  sort  than  there  are,  engaged  in  mercan 
tile  pursuits,  your  situation  would  still  be  one  to 
demand  for  you  the  restraints  and  safeguards  of  true 
religion.  Not  that  religion  would  infallibly  preserve 
you  either  from  error  or  sin.  But  you  would  be  far 
safer  with  it  than  you  can  be  without  it.  It  would 
hold  you  back  from  many  a  scene  of  peril,  and  blunt 
the  edge  of  many  an  enticement  to  evil.  It  would 
come  to  the  help  of  your  good  purposes,  when  borne 
down  by  a  formidable  array  of  numbers,  or  giving 
way  under  some  sudden  temptation.  It  would  estab 
lish  your  moral  principles  on  a  solid  basis,  and  insure 
you  those  Divine  succours,  without  which,  all  our 
strength  is  weakness,  and  our  wisdom,  folly. 

But  there  is  the  still  weightier  consideration  to  be 
pondered  by  you,  already  mentioned.  The  one  great 


THE   GREAT  ALTERNATIVE.  417 

alternative  demands  our  care,  "Except  ye  repent,  ye 
shall  all  likewise  perish"  —  REPENTANCE  or  PERDI 
TION.  Here  is  a  sufficient,  an  unanswerable  argu 
ment  why  you  should  all  "  seek  the  kingdom  of  God" 
without  delay,  viz.,  that  this  is  the  only  way  in  which 
you  can  be  prepared  for  death  and  eternity.  Some 
of  you  have  had  this  argument  presented  to  you  lately 
with  a  solemnity  and  a  tenderness  which  the  pulpit 
cannot  emulate.  Who  that  stood  by  the  bed-side  of 
the  lamented  SLOAN,  can  forget  his  testimony  !  There 
he  lay,  his  manly  form  writhing  under  paroxysms  of 
intense  suffering,  and  his  generous  nature  pierced  with 
the  deeper  anguish  of  a  reclaiming  conscience,  and 
an  anticipated  judgment  —  there  he  lay,  lamenting 
with  bitter  sorrow  that  he  had  postponed  his  prepara 
tion  for  death  until  the  hand  of  death  was  upon  him. 
It  is  not  for  us  to  draw  aside  the  curtain,  and  learn 
whether  those  anxious  prayers  for  mercy  which  en 
gaged  so  large  a  portion  of  the  last  forty-eight  hours 
of  his  life,  received  a  gracious  answer.  We  may  hope 
that  they  did.  We  may  cherish  the  alleviating 
thought  that  the  confidence  he  expressed  was  well 
grounded,  a  confidence  reposing  not  on  his  own  works 
or  merits,  which  he  so  emphatically  disclaimed,  but 
wholly  on  the  true  foundation,  the  righteousness  of 
Christ.  This  will  not  abate  the  force  of  his  admis 
sions,  or  the  urgency  of  his  appeals.  It  was  his 


418          THE   BIBLE   IN   THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

dying  testimony,  that  it  is  most  unwise  to  neglect  the 
claims  of  religion  in  the  season  of  health.  It  was  his 
earnest  and  affectionate  admonition  to  some  of  his 
kind  and  sympathizing  friends,  "  See  that  you  do  not 
defer  your  preparation,  as  I  have  done,  until  you  are 
laid  upon  a  death-bed."  What  can  I  add  to  this? 
If  we  could  revoke  him  from  yonder  cemetery,  if  we 
could  call  back  his  immortal  spirit  from  the  unseen 
world,  and  he  could  stand  for  a  brief  space  where  I 
stand,  and  you  could  hear  again  the  tones  of  that 
familiar  voice,  think  you  he  would  cancel  the  confes 
sions  and  expostulations  of  his  death-scene  ?  You 
cannot  believe  this.  You  cannot  doubt  that  with  the 
experience  he  has  now  had  of  the  eternal  world,  he 
would  plead  with  you,  trumpet-tongued,  to  be  recon 
ciled  to  God;  that  he  would  warn  you  against  all 
delays  ;  and  entreat  you  with  tears  to  "  seek  first  the 
kingdom  of  God."  Do  you  not  owe  it  to  his  memory, 
as  well  as  to  yourselves,  to  heed  this  counsel  ? 

"  Smitten  friends 

Are  angels  sent  on  errands  full  of  love ; 
For  us  they  languish,  and  for  us  they  die : 
And  shall  they  languish,  shall  they  die,  in  vain  ? 
Ungrateful,  shall  we  grieve  their  hovering  shades, 
Which  wait  the  revolution  in  our  hearts  ? 
Shall  we  disdain  their  silent,  soft  address  ; 
Their  posthumous  advice  and  pious  prayer ; 
Senseless,  as  herds  that  graze  their  hallow'd  graves, 
Tread  under  foot  their  agonies  and  groans ; 
Frustrate  their  anguish,  and  destroy  their  deaths  ?  " 


A   LAST   APPEAL.  419 

Under  any  circumstances,  an  appeal  from  an  indi 
vidual  who  is  just  passing  into  eternity,  must  bo 
regarded  with  seriousness.  But  in  this  case  it  derives 
great  force  and  solemnity  from  the  character  of  the 
man.  It  is  no  barren,  posthumous  compliment,  when 
it  is  stated,  that  he  was  a  man  of  generous  impulses 
and  untarnished  honour,  one  who  scorned  all  meanness 
and  chicanery,  and  who  would  rather  do  no  business 
at  all,  than  not  do  it  on  principles  of  straightforward 
honesty.*  Here,  in  the  judgment  of  very  many 
intelligent  persons,  he  had  a  foundation  upon  which 
he  might  have  rested  with  safety :  "If  virtues  like 
these  do  not  insure  salvation,  who  can  hope  to  be 

*  Mr.  Sloan's  disposition  may  be  inferred  from  an  anecdote 
which  I  have  received  on  the  best  authority.  Before  he 
came  to  this  city  to  reside,  he  had  been  in  business  in  Ten 
nessee.  His  property  was  entirely  absorbed  in  discharging 
the  liabilities  contracted  by  the  firm  of  which  he  was  a  mem 
ber.  He  went  out  several  months  since  to  collect  some  money 
from  a  person  who  was  largely  in  debt  to  him,  and  returned 
without  it.  "  Why  did  you  not  get  your  money  ?  "  said  a 
friend  to  him.  "  Because,"  he  replied,  "  I  went  to  the  house, 
and  found  them  all  packed  up,  just  about  removing  to  Texas. 
And  when  I  looked  at  his  wife  and  little  children,  and  con 
sidered  that  if  I  insisted  upon  my  claim,  it  might  be  taking 
the  bread  out  of  their  mouths,  and  breaking  up  their  plans, 
I  couldn't  do  it.  I  chose  rather  to  lose  the  money  myself; 
and  so  I  turned  about,  and  came  back,  without  even  men 
tioning  the  subject  to  him." 


420         THE   BIBLE   IN  THE   COUNTING-HOUSE. 

saved?"  And  yet,  when  the  hour  of  trial  came, 
SLOAN  did  not  feel  that  he  could  trust  to  this  founda 
tion.  He  well  knew  that  his  character  was  about  to 
be  subjected  to  the  scrutiny  of  that  immaculate  Being 
in  whose  sight  the  very  heavens  are  not  clean,  and 
that  the  graceful  qualities  which  had  procured  him  the 
esteem  of  his  fellow-men,  might  prove  a  very  insufficient 
equipment  to  fit  him  for  the  presence  of  a  holy  God. 
His  testimony  on  this  vital  point,  corroborated  as  it 
is  by  the  whole  tenor  of  Scripture,  may  well  put  you 
upon  a  careful  examination  of  your  principles.  If 
he  could  not  trust  to  his  morality,  can  you  ?  If, 
when  the  icy  fingers  of  death  came  to  grasp  his  hope, 
it  shrivelled  and  vanished,  what  will  become  of  yours  ? 
If  he  found  it  needful  to  fly  to  the  blood  of  sprinkling 
and  the  righteousness  of  Christ  for  pardon,  how  can 
YOU  escape  if  you  neglect  this  great  salvation  ?  May 
that  Almighty  Spirit  whose  succour  he  so  anxiously 
implored,  seal  upon  your  hearts  his  dying  counsels, 
and  lead  you  all  to  the  Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world  ! 


THE    END. 


11 1? 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


